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14 J. Am. Inst. Crim. L. & Criminology 350 (May 1923 to February 1924)
Paranoia and Paranoid Personalities a Practical Police Problem

handle is hein.journals/jclc14 and id is 358 raw text is: PARANOIA AND PARANOID PERSONALITIES: A PRACTICAL POLICE PROBLEM J. A. LARSON AND A. WALKER1 Police and judiciary officials are repeatedly being confronted with individuals exhibiting more or less the behavior reactions that are evidently the stigmata of paranoia. These reactions may be accom- panied by a peculiar paranoid personality on the one hand, in which an individual becomes a pest of the community and police by chronically causing complaints with little or no foundation, and the individual with systematic delusions with which may be present other types of mental aberration. Here belongs the killing type with inter- mediate threatening types and those due to traumatic and toxic factors. The problem is a grave one since the causative factors are often latent. That the situation is serious can be seen from the frequency of the occurrence of these types among habitual offenders. Glueck estimated that the percentage of the middle-of-the-road or psycho- pathic inferiors belonging to the habitual anti-social group was 18.9 per cent. The paranoid type forms a large percentage of this group. The recognition and differentiation of these various types will not only stop a great deal of unnecessary work but may save property and life, since the chronic kicker, if unchecked, may develop into the killing type. The reason that so many of these individuals advance to the threatening of life and to murder is to be sought in the failure to recognize and differentiate. This failure arises from the faulty train- ing of all those officials who may come in contact with the individual. Since compainants themselves, defendants, witnesses, jurors and others involved are not exempt from paranoid -tendencies it is only natural that the true factors underlying the case remain hidden. If the police officer has been well trained in the handling of this type of case he at once recognizes the chronic kicker and knows how much importance to attach to his activities. Again he will be able to-detect the delusional syndrome and, recognizing the menace to society, will either have him committed to an institution or will watch him carefully. Even if the officer possesses the necessary qualifica- tions he is at once confronted by three important obstacles. The first is the usual opposition of the district attorney's office (the members of 1Bureau of Research, Berkeley, California, Police Department,

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