Sociodemographic and Clinical Characterization of the Marital Aggressor

Abstract

Background: Domestic violence is a complex phenomenon that affects families of all races, ethnicities, religions and socioeconomic levels. It is
increasingly visible in society and presents
different levels of severity (from insult to
homicide). However, the sociodemographic
and clinical aspects of the aggressors are still
poorly characterized.

Aims: The objective of this paper is to undertake a
sociodemographic and clinical characterization
of the conjugal aggressor in the forensic
examinations submitted to the Functional
Unit of Psychiatry and Functional
Psychology of Hospital Magalhães Lemos.

Methods: A retrospective study of the medical-legal
examinations performed between January
2002 and December 2012, at this Unit concerning
criminal cases for domestic violence
of the “Simple Damage”, homicide and
homicide in the attempted form types. In this
paper we attempt to characterize the profile
of the marital aggressor and present the final
conclusions of the expert regarding the
criminal responsibility of the examinands.

Results: Of the eighty six medical-legal examinations
considered for this study, 92% of the alleged
offenders were men. The mean age was 44.7
± 13.7 years. Of those examined, 35% were
professionally inactive. Regarding marital
status, 41.9% were married, 27.9% were
single, 25.6% were divorced and 4.7% were
widowers. The victim in 47.7% of cases was
the husband / wife, 39.5% the partner and
12.8% the ex-wife/ex-husband. The examinations
were performed for crime cases of
“simple damage” (75.6%), criminal cases
of homicide due to marital violence (16.3%)
and homicide in the attempted form (8.1%).
Of the patients examined 86,0% presented
psychiatric pathology with 40,7% of addictive
behaviors. 66.3% of the examinands
were considered imputable.

Discussion and Conclusions: Psychiatric evaluation should seek to identify psychopathology and risk factors that may precipitate violent acts and, when possible, contribute to its prevention and treatment.
Future studies need to be conducted to prevent
domestic violence and to improve the
effective enforcement of justice.