"Neuropsychiatric, psychoeducational, and family characteristics of 14 juveniles condemned to death in the United States." - GreenMedInfo Summary
Neuropsychiatric, psychoeducational, and family characteristics of 14 juveniles condemned to death in the United States.
Am J Psychiatry. 1988 May ;145(5):584-9. PMID: 3358463
Department of Psychiatry, New York University Medical Center, NY 10016.
Of the 37 juveniles currently condemned to death in the United States, all of the 14 incarcerated in four states received comprehensive psychiatric, neurological, neuropsychological, and educational evaluations. Nine had major neurological impairment, seven suffered psychotic disorders antedating incarceration, seven evidenced significant organic dysfunction on neuropsychological testing, and only two had full-scale IQ scores above 90. Twelve had been brutally physically abused, and five had been sodomized by relatives. For a variety of reasons the subjects' vulnerabilities were not recognized at the time of trial or sentencing, when they could have been used for purposes of mitigation.