Who Are the Victims of NGRI Acquittees? A Study of Belgian Internees

Abstract

BackgroundThe limited literature on victim characteristics of offenders found not guilty by reason of insanity (NGRI) shows that most victims are adults who are known to the offender. It is currently unclear whether victims are mainly male or female or whether there are differences in the type of victims according to the offenders' psychiatric disorder.MethodVictim characteristics were retrospectively collected from 362 NGRI acquittees, and the influence of psychiatric diagnoses on victim profiles was examined.ResultsVictims were mainly adult acquaintances and were equally likely to be male or female. Family members and caregivers were the most frequent type of acquaintance victims. Further analyses suggest that these victim characteristics are similar for perpetrators with different psychiatric diagnoses.ConclusionVictimization of strangers and minors was unlikely in NGRI offenders.