P-650 - The rorschach test in the murder

Abstract

The Rorschach is a projective test frequently used in the forensic ambit for the information it can give in both the cognitive and affective area. The purpose of our work is to identify the personality traits recurring in killings through the examination of the psychometric major indices of the Rorschach. 20 male subjects, authors of murders, between 20 and 50 years were tested (average age, 29); the control group was represented by 20 male subjects aged between 20 and 50 years without history of crimes. All protocols were collected and signed through the method “Scuola Romana Rorschach” and processed by information systems RORCOMP. From the cognitive point of view there were no significant differences concerning the sense of reality between the murderers and control samples (R +%, F +%: 70–80), but the number of responses was lower than average (80% of subjects R = 20) as well as the number of M (75% of subjects M < 2). The most significant differences in the murderers appeared in the affective area with an extratensive TVI and an affectivity type CF + C > FC; then 78% of the subjects showed an average value of the Impulsivity Index equivalent to 0.85. Despite the availability of a limited number of cases, the Rorschach indices, in concordance with literature data, showed in the murderers the presence of affective lability and immature object relations, lack of interest in the object, impulsivity, egotism and mild empathy, that identify the cluster B personality traits.