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Family Histories of Mental Illness and Violence in State Patients
Background: It is known that both severe mental illness and violence have genetic components. Multiple genes play a role in the cause of violent behaviour. Violence is one of the leading causes of death for young people in South Africa and yet little is known about its prevalence in state patients a...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health
2022
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| _version_ | 1867614035477790720 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Vogts, Elizabeth |
| author2 | Roffey, M |
| author_browse | Roffey, M Vogts, Elizabeth |
| author_facet | Roffey, M Vogts, Elizabeth |
| author_sort | Vogts, Elizabeth |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | Background: It is known that both severe mental illness and violence have genetic components. Multiple genes play a role in the cause of violent behaviour. Violence is one of the leading causes of death for young people in South Africa and yet little is known about its prevalence in state patients and their family members. Aim: This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of violence and mental illness in the families of state patients, to what extend these coincide and to compare schizophrenia and mood psychosis in that context. Setting: The study included 60 state patients' folders, all of whom were diagnosed with a psychotic disorder, in accordance with DSM5 criteria. The subjects were divided into two groups: those who have committed violence and those who have not committed violence. Method: Patients' folders were selected by purposive sampling. These folders were then reviewed by the researcher and a questionnaire was completed. Results: Violent patients had more first-generation relatives with violent convictions (68.2%), compared to 36.4% of non-violent patients. Only 3.3% of non-violent patients witnessed domestic violence, whereas 13.3% of violent patients witnessed domestic violence. A significantly higher proportion of patients with bipolar disorder had been convicted of physical assault (p=0.035). 17.6% of violent schizophrenia patients had a family history of violence and mental illness, compared to 18.2% of violent patients with mood psychoses which is not statistically significant. Conclusion: It was found that violence runs in families and that mental illness and violence was prevalent in the described group. Of further concern was that more violent patients witnessed domestic violence compared to non-violent patients, emphasising the idea that the cause of violence is multifactorial (genetic, environmental), and that identification of not only high-risk patients but also high-risk families need to be implemented. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/36199 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:45:38.595Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2022 |
| publishDateRange | 2022 |
| publishDateSort | 2022 |
| publisher | Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health |
| publisherStr | Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/36199 Family Histories of Mental Illness and Violence in State Patients Vogts, Elizabeth Roffey, M Kaliski, Sean Ramesar, S Violence Schizophrenia Mood psychoses State patients Genetics South Africa Background: It is known that both severe mental illness and violence have genetic components. Multiple genes play a role in the cause of violent behaviour. Violence is one of the leading causes of death for young people in South Africa and yet little is known about its prevalence in state patients and their family members. Aim: This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of violence and mental illness in the families of state patients, to what extend these coincide and to compare schizophrenia and mood psychosis in that context. Setting: The study included 60 state patients' folders, all of whom were diagnosed with a psychotic disorder, in accordance with DSM5 criteria. The subjects were divided into two groups: those who have committed violence and those who have not committed violence. Method: Patients' folders were selected by purposive sampling. These folders were then reviewed by the researcher and a questionnaire was completed. Results: Violent patients had more first-generation relatives with violent convictions (68.2%), compared to 36.4% of non-violent patients. Only 3.3% of non-violent patients witnessed domestic violence, whereas 13.3% of violent patients witnessed domestic violence. A significantly higher proportion of patients with bipolar disorder had been convicted of physical assault (p=0.035). 17.6% of violent schizophrenia patients had a family history of violence and mental illness, compared to 18.2% of violent patients with mood psychoses which is not statistically significant. Conclusion: It was found that violence runs in families and that mental illness and violence was prevalent in the described group. Of further concern was that more violent patients witnessed domestic violence compared to non-violent patients, emphasising the idea that the cause of violence is multifactorial (genetic, environmental), and that identification of not only high-risk patients but also high-risk families need to be implemented. 2022-03-22T10:32:56Z 2022-03-22T10:32:56Z 2021 2022-03-22T07:38:35Z Master Thesis Masters MMed http://hdl.handle.net/11427/36199 eng application/pdf Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health Faculty of Health Sciences |
| spellingShingle | Violence Schizophrenia Mood psychoses State patients Genetics South Africa Vogts, Elizabeth Family Histories of Mental Illness and Violence in State Patients |
| thesis_degree_str | Master's |
| title | Family Histories of Mental Illness and Violence in State Patients |
| title_full | Family Histories of Mental Illness and Violence in State Patients |
| title_fullStr | Family Histories of Mental Illness and Violence in State Patients |
| title_full_unstemmed | Family Histories of Mental Illness and Violence in State Patients |
| title_short | Family Histories of Mental Illness and Violence in State Patients |
| title_sort | family histories of mental illness and violence in state patients |
| topic | Violence Schizophrenia Mood psychoses State patients Genetics South Africa |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/36199 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT vogtselizabeth familyhistoriesofmentalillnessandviolenceinstatepatients |