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Biomedical subjects

D O Lewis

Publications and source records attributed to D O Lewis.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1979

Parental criminality and medical histories of delinquent children.

In clinical practice the authors observed that many of the delinquent children of psychiatrically impaired and/or criminal parents had remarkably adverse health histories. To test their clinical impression they systematically compared the medical histories of 20 delinquent children with criminal parents and 85 delinquent children with less obviously maladapted parents. They found a strong association between paternal criminality and serious medical problems in these delinquent children. On the basis of this finding the authors suggest that the behavioral manifestations resulting from such physical illness or neglect, although they appear genetic in nature, may reflect the physical and psychological consequences of parental neglect and/or battering.

Accidents↗
PubMed1979

Juvenile male sexual assaulters.

This study compares the psychiatric, neurological, and psychoeducational status of sexually assaultive male juveniles and other violent juveniles. The authors found that juvenile sexual assaulters suffered from neuropsychiatric problems similar to those of other violent juveniles, had committed violent acts other than sexual assault, and had had seriously aberrant behavior since early childhood. The findings contradict prevailing assumptions that sexual assaults by juveniles are rare occurrences and that juvenile sex offenders have low rates of recidivism. Theoretical and treatment implications are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1979

Perinatal difficulties, head and face trauma, and child abuse in the medical histories of seriously delinquent children.

The authors compared the medical histories of incarcerated and nonincarcerated delinquent children. Incarcerated delinquent children were significantly more likely than nonincarcerated delinquents to have sustained severe head and face injury. Differences were evident by age 2. Perinatal difficulties and psychiatric impairment were also significantly more prevalent in the histories of incarcerated delinquents. Especially violent incarcerated children had more perinatal difficulties, accidents, injuries, and ward admissions than did their less violent incarcerated peers. The authors suggest that the combination of early CNS trauma, parental psychopathology, and social deprivation is responsible for the serious, often violent, delinquency that is now prevalent.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1977

Juvenile delinquency, adult criminality, and adult psychiatric treatment: an epidemiological study.

This report explores some associations among juvenile-delinquency, subsequent criminality, and subsequent psychiatric treatment. A sample of 255 males known to the juvenile court 25 years prior to the study is examined in terms of subsequent documented psychiatric treatment and/or criminal activity. Of the 255 former delinquents, 6% were known later to both criminal justice and psychiatric systems, 6% to psychiatric systems only, 28% to the criminal justice system only, and 60% to neither. Delinquents with later psychiatric histories were twice as likely to be known to the criminal justice system than were those without psychiatric histories. Those with adult psychiatric histories were also significantly younger at the time of their first delinquent offense and committed more juvenile offenses than the nonpsychiatric group. Only 2 of the 16 individuals later known to both systems were diagnosed sociopathic. The findings are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1977

Juvenile court versus child guidance referral: psychosocial and parental factors.

The authors compared the psychiatric symptoms, socioeconomic status, family structure, family size, and occurrence of treated parental mental illness in 136 children referred to a juvenile court and 82 children referred to a child guidance clinic. The prevalence of psychiatric and organic symptoms and treated parental psychopathology in both groups of children did not differ significantly. Juvenile court clinic children, however, tended to come from larger families and to lack a biological mother in the home. The authors explore explanations for the routing of sick children to the juvenile court rather than to a treatment facility.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1977

Medical histories of delinquent and nondelinquent children: an epidemiological study.

The authors studies the hospital records of 109 delinquent children and a matched comparison group of 109 nondelinquent children. The number, reasons for, and timing of hospital contacts significantly differentiated the delinquent from the nondelinquent children; perinatal difficulties did not. The authors hypothesize that an interaction of developmental factors and parental inadequacies accounts for the clustering of hospital contacts before age 4 and between ages 14 and 16 in the delinquent sample. They discuss the implications of their findings for prevention.

Accident Proneness↗
PubMed1976

Diagnostic evaluation of the juvenile offender: toward the clarification of often overlooked psychopathology.

On the basis of previously reported findings that a high percentage of court-referred children suffered from serious psychopathology other than sociopathy, attention is called to some essential, though often overlooked, elements of diagnostic evaluation of delinquents. Emphasis is on a meticulous history, including careful attention to the significances of family histories of serious psychiatric and/or neurological disorders. The importance of a detailed perinatal and medical history, with emphasis on determining a possible history of significant insult to the central nervous system, is stressed. A systematic mental status evaluation is strongly recommended. Techniques for assessing the existence of significant hallucinatory and delusional experiences in children are suggested. The uses of psychological and neurological evaluations to augment the psychiatric are discussed. The poor social situation from which many delinquents come as well as the obvious intrafamilial psychodynamic factors influencing delinquent behavior are recognized as frequent impediments to the search for less obvious psychotic and/or organic vulnerabilities in the juvenile offender. Case histories of several children who had previously been dismissed as merely sociopathic, illustrate the thesis of the paper.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1976

Feeding behavior in monkeys with and without lesions of the hypothalamus.

In monkeys (Macaca mulatta) without hypothalamic lesions, food intake was found to increase with increasing age and body weight; however, food intake per kilogram body weight showed a decline over the same period of time. As the animals became older, the amount of food intake converted to body weight decreased dramatically (feeding efficiency). Water intake was shown to be closely coupled to food intake. Both daily food and water-intake data were highly reliable over a period of years. Monkeys with ventromedial hypothalamic lesions exhibited hyperphagia and increased feeding-efficiency ratios and eventual obesity. The obese animals developed symptoms of diabetes mellitus. Animals with lesions restricted primarily to the arcuate nucleus showed no hyperphagia but increased feeding efficiency. These animals exhibited decreased growth hormone release and a transitory elevation of serum insulin.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1976

Delinquency, psychomotor epileptic symptoms and paranoid ideation: a triad.

In a retrospective chart-review study, the author found psychomotor epileptic symptoms in 6% (N=18) of children referred to a juvenile court over a 2-year period. Abnormalities appeared in 11 of the 14 available EEGs, but temporal lobe foci were noted in only 3 cases. Of these 18 children, 16 experienced paranoid symptoms that led to aggressive behavior. The incidence of offenses against persons was 50% in this sample, compared to 2--3% in the population of children referred to the juvenile court. The author suggests that psychomotor epilepsy may be far more common among delinquent children than has been reported previously and should therefore be included in the differential diagnosis of court-referred children.

Aggression↗
PubMed1975

The treatment of adopted versus neglected delinquent children in the court: a problem of reciprocal attachment?

The authors investigated the discrepant treatment by a juvenile court of adopted versus neglected delinquents. Adopted delinquents received harsher dispositions in spite of the fact that neglected delinquents often faced more serious charges. The two groups are compared in terms of family structure and the criminal and psychiartic histories of their parents; none of these seems to account for the adoptees' harsher treatment. The authors hypothesize that an interplay of late adoption intrinsic vulnerabilities in the children, and weakness of parental bonds accounts for the differential outcomes.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1975

"Sociopathy" and its synonyms: inappropriate diagnoses in child psychiatry.

The use of the diagnosis "sociopathy" and its synonyms hinders the search for other kinds of symptomatology, the recognition of which might lead to appropriate therapeutic intervention. The authors therefore suggest that the terms "sociopathic personality," "antisocial personality," and "acting out aggressive reaction of childhood or adolescence" be eliminated as primary diagnoses from the psychiatric nomenclature for children or adolescents. Two case reports are presented to emphasize the damage these diagnoses can cause.

Adolescent↗