Am J Psychiatry 1989; 146:645-651
Copyright © 1989 by American Psychiatric Association
Murder and assault arrests of White House cases: clinical and demographic correlates of violence subsequent to civil commitment
D Shore, CR Filson, WE Johnson, DS Rae, P Muehrer, DJ Kelley, TS Davis, IN Waldman and RJ Wyatt
Division of Clinical Research, NIMH, Rockville, MD 20857.
The authors studied arrest records and clinical data on 217 persons
formerly hospitalized as "White House Cases" because they were
psychotically preoccupied with prominent political figures. Prior arrest
for violent crime was the variable most strongly associated with arrest for
violent crime after hospital discharge. Male gender and a history of
weapons possession were also correlated with future violence. For those
with prior violent crime arrests, hospital incidents requiring seclusion
were also associated with later violence. For those without prior arrests,
subsequent violence was associated with threats, living outside Washington,
and command hallucinations. For those previously arrested for nonviolent
crimes, only persecutory delusions were associated with later violence.
