When drawing up an expert opinion, the Rorschach test is frequently used to gain a better understanding of the way of thinking, view of reality, management of affect and, in general, the personality of the authors of homicide.All these elements will be helpful to the expert called upon to clarify any level of mental disorder in the perpetrators of crimes, especially in the case of serious crimes like homicide. The present investigation stemmed from the assumption that it is possible to identify correlations among aspects of thought disorders (also of psychopathological type) and criminological and criminalistic variables closely related to the crime, and that traces of these will emerge in the Rorschach findings. A retrospective study was conducted of 49 Rorschach protocols on perpetrators of homicide, collected between 1998 and 2015 according to the SRR Scuola Romana Rorschach method and stored in the database of the Criminology and Forensic Psychiatry Section of Bari University Hospital. The results of the assessment had indicated 23 subjects as imputable, versus 10 with a partial and 16 with a total mental disorder. Based on the dichotomy between the “organized” and the “disorganized” crime scene, the Rorschach was confirmed as an extremely valid tool that contributes to delineate the overall personality and most salient personal characteristics of authors of homicide, as well as the criminal profile.

Rorschach test on the crime scene in the authors of homicide: Retrospective statistical study

Ignazio Grattagliano
;
Antonia Valerio;Roberto Catanesi
2019-01-01

Abstract

When drawing up an expert opinion, the Rorschach test is frequently used to gain a better understanding of the way of thinking, view of reality, management of affect and, in general, the personality of the authors of homicide.All these elements will be helpful to the expert called upon to clarify any level of mental disorder in the perpetrators of crimes, especially in the case of serious crimes like homicide. The present investigation stemmed from the assumption that it is possible to identify correlations among aspects of thought disorders (also of psychopathological type) and criminological and criminalistic variables closely related to the crime, and that traces of these will emerge in the Rorschach findings. A retrospective study was conducted of 49 Rorschach protocols on perpetrators of homicide, collected between 1998 and 2015 according to the SRR Scuola Romana Rorschach method and stored in the database of the Criminology and Forensic Psychiatry Section of Bari University Hospital. The results of the assessment had indicated 23 subjects as imputable, versus 10 with a partial and 16 with a total mental disorder. Based on the dichotomy between the “organized” and the “disorganized” crime scene, the Rorschach was confirmed as an extremely valid tool that contributes to delineate the overall personality and most salient personal characteristics of authors of homicide, as well as the criminal profile.
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11586/229795
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