ABSTRACT
Anti-hormonal treatment of sexual offenders with Cyproteronacetat is discussed. The authors report on their own findings, and review the literature. They believe that Cyproteronacetat in combination with supportive psychotherapy is a promising modality. They further comment on the Austrian legal situation.
Subject(s)
Androgen Antagonists/therapeutic use , Cyproterone/analogs & derivatives , Paraphilic Disorders/drug therapy , Sex Offenses , Adult , Austria , Castration , Cyproterone/therapeutic use , Cyproterone Acetate , Follow-Up Studies , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Paraphilic Disorders/therapy , Psychosurgery , Psychotherapy , Sex Offenses/legislation & jurisprudenceSubject(s)
Substance-Related Disorders , Adolescent , Austria , Cannabis , Drug and Narcotic Control , Group Processes , Humans , Parent-Child Relations , Psychotherapy, Group , PubertyABSTRACT
Care and treatment of mentally abnormal offenders constitute a special problem for the traditional penal system as well as for conventional psychiatric services. Persons who are not responsible for their criminal acts need more rather than less security. In this paper 348 criminal offenders were analyzed according to type of offence and diagnosis. This population constitutes 3.11% of all psychiatric in-patients in Austrian psychiatric hospitals. In order to improve possibilities of research and at the same time make custody and release better manageable it is suggested to establish special institutions for mentally abnormal offenders. Special attention is also paid to the problem of suicide and self-injuring of prisoners and especially to personality changes ("functional psychosyndrome") due to chronic imprisonment in cases of long-term criminal inmates.
Subject(s)
Forensic Psychiatry , Social Control, Formal/methods , Austria , Humans , PersonalityABSTRACT
Among the 700 inmates of a big Austrian prison 5 cases of XYY caryotype were detected by means of the Quinacrinfluorescence method and subsequent lymphocyte culture. Keeping in mind that, if at all, only a small amount of criminal behavior may be explained by chromosomal factors three hypotheses about possible links between the XYY abnormality and criminal behavior are discussed in this paper. 1. the connection is a spurious one, as both criminal behavior and the XYY caryotype are more frequent in a working class population without being necessarily linked causally. 2. criminal behavior may be a consequence of the bodily abnormalities connected with the XYY abnormality. 3. the XYY type may contribute to criminal behaviour by acting upon neuro-endocrinological structures.