Ritual homicide during dissociative trance disorder.

A case report is described of a man who developed a single period of recurrent episodes of dissociative trance disorder (DTD) during a family stress. The cultural environment was permeated by thoughts and beliefs in magic. During one trance state, the man performed an exorcism on the 6-month-old baby of his brother-in-law, and the baby died from cerebral hemorrhage. In the 5-year follow-up, no other episodes of DTD developed, and the man is serving an 18-year sentence.

Citation

Stefano Ferracuti, Maria Civita DeMarco. Ritual homicide during dissociative trance disorder. International journal of offender therapy and comparative criminology. 2004 Feb;48(1):59-64

Mesh Tags

PMID: 14969117

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