Mental illness, violence and delusional misidentifications: the role of Capgras' syndrome in matricide

Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine
Felice CarabelleseRoberto Catanesi

Abstract

Violent behavior has frequently been reported in cases of Capgras' delusion, a misidentification syndrome characterized by the false belief that imposters have replaced people familiar to the individual. To better understand the relationship between Capgras' syndrome and violence. After a brief overview of the scientific knowledge of delusional misidentification syndromes, we present two cases of psychotic sons suffering from this kind of delusion who killed their mothers and we analyzed the phenomenology of Capgras' delusion in-depth, focusing on the role of this syndrome in the etiology of violence. Capgras' syndrome may be a specific risk factor for violence towards others, particularly the murder of the delusionally misidentified person. Looking for the signs of Capgras' syndrome may be crucial to assessing the risk of violence in mentally disordered patients.

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Citations

Aug 8, 2014·International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology·Roberto CatanesiFelice Carabellese
May 1, 2015·International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine·Chiara RapinesiPaolo Girardi
Feb 23, 2019·Cognitive Neuropsychiatry·Emily A CurrellVaughan Bell
May 8, 2020·International Review of Psychiatry·Antonio VentriglioAndrea Fiorillo
Sep 19, 2020·Forensic Science, Medicine, and Pathology·Silvia TrottaBiagio Solarino
May 6, 2017·International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology·Mensah Adinkrah
Oct 10, 2015·Journal of Psychiatric Research·Mathilde HornDelphine Pins
Jul 7, 2021·Revista colombiana de psiquiatría·Marta Migoya-BorjaEnrique Baca-García
Aug 5, 2021·Journal of Forensic Sciences·Giulia PetroniGian Luca Marella

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