Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-r5fsc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T08:56:22.922Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Homicide in the West of Scotland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

Hunter Gillies
Hunter Gillies*
Affiliation:
Stobhill General Hospital, Glasgow, G21 3UW
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Between 1953 and 1974 the author made psychiatric examinations for the prosecution of 400 persons, 367 males and 33 females, accused of the murders of 307 victims, 194 males and 113 females. The 367 males were accused of 273 murders, 172 male and 101 female victims, and the 33 females were accused of 34 murders, 22 male and 12 female victims. The salient features amongst the accused were maleness, youthfulness, the causal importance of alcohol, the rarity of suicide after murder and the high percentage of psychiatrically normal persons: in these last two respects the picture differed from that reported in England and Wales. The normality of these Scottish accused was further shown by the finding that in the decade 1965 to 1974 no material psychiatric abnormality was seen in 90 per cent of the males examined.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 128 , Issue 2 , February 1976 , pp. 105 - 127
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1976 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adelson, L. (1972) The battering child. Journal of the American Medical Association, 222, 159–61.Google ScholarPubMed
Asuni, T. (1969) Homicide in Western Nigeria. British Journal of Psychiatry, 115, 1105–13.Google Scholar
Barraclough, B. M. (1972) Are the Scottish and English suicide rates really different? British Journal of Psychiatry, 120, 267–73.Google Scholar
Barraclough, B. M. (1973) Differences between national suicide rates. British Journal of Psychiatry, 122, 95–6.Google Scholar
Bender, L. (1959) Children and adolescents who have killed. American Journal of Psychiatry, 116, 510–13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blackburn, R. (1968) Personality in relation to extreme aggression in psychiatric offenders. British Journal of Psychiatry, 114, 821–8.Google Scholar
Brittain, R. P. (1970) The sadistic murderer. Medicine, Science and the Law, 10, 198–207.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Catholic Directory for Scotland (1974) Glasgow.Google Scholar
Cohn, H. (1966) Uxoricides. Journal of Offender Therapy, 10, 42–5.Google Scholar
Connor, W. D. (1972) Deviance in Soviet Society: Crime, Delinquency and Alcoholism. New York.Google Scholar
Cormier, B. M. & Simons, S. P. (1969) The problem of the dangerous sexual offender. Canadian Psychiatric Association Journal, 14, 329–35.Google Scholar
Cuthbert, T. M. (1970) A portfolio of murders. British Journal of Psychiatry, 116, 1–10.Google Scholar
Driver, M. V., West, L. R. & Faulk, M. (1974) Clinical and EEG studies of prisoners charged with murder. British Journal of Psychiatry, 125, 583–7.Google Scholar
Duncan, J. W. & Duncan, G. M. (1971) Murder in the family. American Journal of Psychiatry, 127, 1498–502.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Easson, W. M. & Steinhilber, R. M. (1961) Murderous aggression by children and adolescents. Archives of General Psychiatry, 4, 27–35.Google Scholar
Edwards, G. (1972) Murder and gun control. American Journal of Psychiatry, 128, 811–14.Google Scholar
Ellinwood, E. H. (1971) Assault and homicide associated with amphetamine abuse. American Journal of Psychiatry, 127, 1170–5.Google Scholar
Enoch, M. D., Trethowan, W. H. & Barker, J. C. (1967) Some Uncommon Psychiatric Syndromes. Bristol.Google Scholar
Evans, P. (1968) Infanticide. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine, 61, 1296–8.Google ScholarPubMed
Fenton, G. W. (1972) Epilepsy and automatism. British Journal of Hospital Medicine, 7, 57–64.Google Scholar
Gibbens, T. C. N. (1958) Sane and insane homicide. Journal of Criminal Law, Criminology and Police Science, 49, 110–15.Google Scholar
Gibbs, E. L. & Gibbs, F. A. (1951) Electroencephalographic evidence of thalamic and hypothalamic epilepsy. Neurology, 1, 136–44.Google Scholar
Gibson, E. & Klein, S. (1961) Murder. London: H.M.S.O. Google Scholar
Gibson, E. & Klein, S. (1969) Murder 1957 to 1968. London: H.M.S.O. Google Scholar
Goodwin, D. W. (1973) Alcohol in suicide and homicide. Quarterly Journal of Studies in Alcohol, 34, 144–56.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gordon, G. H. (1967) The Criminal Law of Scotland. Edinburgh.Google Scholar
Gunn, J. & Fenton, G. (1969) Epilepsy in prisons: a diagnostic survey. British Medical Journal, iv, 326–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gunn, J. & Fenton, G. (1971) Epilepsy, automatism and crime. Lancet, i, 1173–6.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Guttmacher, M. S. (1960) The Mind of the Murderer. New York.Google Scholar
Harder, T. (1967) The psychopathology of infanticide. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 43, 196–245.Google Scholar
Harrington, J. A. (1972) Violence: a clinical viewpoint. British Medical Journal, i, 228–31.Google Scholar
Hill, D. (1963) In Electroencephalography (ed. Hill, and Parr, ). 2nd ed. London.Google Scholar
Hill, D. & Pond, D. A. (1952) Reflections on one hundred capital cases submitted to electroencephalography. Journal of Mental Science, 98, 23–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ilfeld, F. W. (1969) Overview of the causes and prevention of violence. Archives of General Psychiatry, 20, 675–89.Google Scholar
Kahn, M. W. (1971) Murderers who plead insanity. Genetic Psychology Monographs, 84, 275–360.Google ScholarPubMed
Kessel, N. & Grossman, G. (1961) Suicide in alcoholics. British Medical Journal, ii, 1671–2.Google Scholar
Kreitman, N. (1972) Suicide in Scotland in comparison with England and Wales. British Journal of Psychiatry, 121, 83–7.Google Scholar
Kuehn, J. L. & Burton, J. (1969) Management of the college student with homicidal impulses—the ‘Whitman syndrome’. American Journal of Psychiatry, 125, 1594–9.Google Scholar
Lanzkron, J. (1963) Murder and insanity: a survey. American Journal of Psychiatry, 119, 754–8.Google Scholar
Lyons, H. A. (1972) Depressive illness and aggression in Belfast. British Medical Journal, i, 342–4.Google Scholar
Magdonald, J. M. (1961) The Murderer and his Victim. Springfield, Illinois.Google Scholar
Magdonald, J. M. (1963) The threat to kill. American Journal of Psychiatry, 120, 125–30.Google Scholar
Magdonald, J. M. (1967) Homicidal threats. American Journal of Psychiatry, 124, 475–82.Google Scholar
McGeorge, J. (1963) Alcohol and crime. Medicine, Science and the Law, 3, 27–48.Google Scholar
McKnight, C. K., Mohr, J. W., Quinsey, R. E. & Erochko, J. (1966) Mental illness and homicide. Canadian Psychiatric Association Journal, 11, 91–8.Google Scholar
Macrae, A. K. M. (1972) Part V. Patients and the State Hospital. Health Bulletin, xxx, 226–8.Google Scholar
Malmquist, C. P. (1971) Premonitory signs of homicidal aggression in juveniles. American Journal of Psychiatry, 128, 461–5.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Marten, G. W. (1965) Adolescent murderers. Southern Medical Journal, 58, 1217–20.Google Scholar
Morris, T. & Blom-Cooper, L. (1964) A Calendar of Murder. London.Google Scholar
Mowat, R. R. (1966) Morbid Jealousy and Murder. London.Google Scholar
Neustatter, W. L. (1965) The state of mind in murder. Lancet, i, 861–3.Google Scholar
O'Connell, B. A. (1963) Matricide. A paper read to the Royal Medico-Psychological Association at Broadmoor Hospital on 1 May 1963.Google Scholar
Parker, E. (1974) The victims of mentally disordered female offenders. British Journal of Psychiatry, 125, 51–9.Google Scholar
Resnick, P. J. (1969) Child murder by parents. American Journal of Psychiatry, 126, 325–33.Google Scholar
Resnick, P. J. (1970) Murder of the newborn. American Journal of Psychiatry, 126, 1414–20.Google Scholar
Revitch, E. (1965) Sex murder and the potential sex murderer. Diseases of the Nervous System, 26, 640–8.Google ScholarPubMed
Rollin, H. R. (1974) The Mental Health Act, 1959. British Journal of Hospital Medicine, 12, 272–7.Google Scholar
Roth, M. (1972) Human violence as viewed from the psychiatric clinic. American Journal of Psychiatry, 128, 1043–56.Google Scholar
Rubin, B. (1972) Prediction of dangerousness in mentally ill criminals. Archives of General Psychiatry, 27, 397–407.Google Scholar
Russell, D. H. (1965) A study of juvenile murderers. Journal of Offender Therapy, 9, 55–86.Google Scholar
Scherl, D. J. & Mack, J. E. (1966) A study of adolescent matricide. Journal of American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 5, 569–93.Google Scholar
Schilder, P. (1936) The attitude of murderers towards death. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 31, 348–63.Google Scholar
Scott, P. D. (1968) Offenders, drunkenness and murder. British Journal of Addiction, 63, 221–6.Google Scholar
Scott, P. D. (1973) Fatal battered baby cases. Medicine, Science and the Law, 13, 197–206.Google Scholar
Scottish Home and Health Department (1974) Criminal Statistics, Scotland 1973. Edinburgh: H.M.S.O. Google Scholar
Sereny, G. (1973) The Case of Mary Bell. London.Google Scholar
Shepherd, M. (1961) Morbid jealousy. Journal of Mental Science, 107, 687–753.Google Scholar
Shields, J. V. M. & Duncan, J. A. (1964) The State of Crime in Scotland. London.Google Scholar
Smart, R. G. & Bateman, K. (1967) Unfavourable reactions to LSD. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 97, 1214–21.Google Scholar
Smith, S. (1965) The adolescent murderer. Archives of General Psychiatry, 13, 310–19.Google Scholar
Smith, S. M., Hanson, R. & Noble, S. (1973) Parents of battered babies: a controlled study. British Medical Journal, iv, 388–91.Google Scholar
Solomon, P. (1967) The burden of responsibility in suicide and homicide. Journal of the American Medical Association, 199, 321–4.Google Scholar
Stürup, G. K. (1968) Will this man be dangerous? In The Mentally Abnormal Offender (ed. Rueck, and Porter, ). London.Google Scholar
Tanay, E. (1969) Psychiatric study of homicide. American Journal of Psychiatry, 125, 1252–8.Google Scholar
Tanay, E. (1972) Psychiatric aspects of homicide prevention. American Journal of Psychiatry, 128, 815–8.Google Scholar
Tennent, T. G. (1971) The dangerous offender. British Journal of Hospital Medicine, 6, 269–74.Google Scholar
Tuteur, W. & Glotzer, J. (1959) Murdering mothers. American Journal of Psychiatry, 116, 447–52.Google Scholar
Varma, L. P. and Jha, B. K. (1966) Characteristics of murder in mental disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry, 122, 1296–8.Google Scholar
Virkkunen, M. (1974a) Observations on violence in schizophrenia. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinauica, 50, 145–51.Google Scholar
Virkkunen, M. (1974b) Alcohol as a factor precipitating aggression and conflict behaviour leading to homicide. British Journal of Addiction, 69, 149–54.Google Scholar
Walker, N. (1968a) Crime and Punishment in Britain. 2nd ed. Edinburgh.Google Scholar
Walker, N. (1968b) Crime and Insanity in England. Vol. 1. Edinburgh.Google Scholar
Walker, N. & McCabe, S. (1973) Crime and Insanity in England. Vol. 2. Edinburgh.Google Scholar
West, D. J. (1963) The Habitual Prisoner. London.Google Scholar
West, D. J. (1965) Murder Followed by Suicide. London.Google Scholar
West, D. J. (1968) A note on murders in Manhattan. Medicine, Science and the Law, 8, 249–55.Google Scholar
West, D. J. (1972) The case of Graham Young. In Supplement to the British Journal of Psychiatry, 121, 6–7.Google Scholar
Whttlock, F. A. (1963) Criminal Responsibility and Mental Illness. London.Google Scholar
Williams, D. (1969) Neural factors related to habitual aggression. Brain, 92, 503–20.Google Scholar
Williams, , Hall, J. E. (1969) Chromosome abnormality and legal accountability. In Criminological Implications of Chromosome Abnormalities (cd. West). Cambridge.Google Scholar
Wolfgang, M. E. (1958) Patterns in Criminal Homicide. Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Wong, M. & Singer, K. (1973) Abnormal homicide in Hong Kong. British Journal of Psychiatry, 123, 295–8.Google Scholar
Woods, S. M. (1961) Adolescent violence and homicide. Archives of General Psychiatry, 5, 528–34.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.