Homophobia and psychotic crimes of violence

Abstract

Irrationally negative attitudes towards homosexual people, known as homophobia, may cause assaults by mentally ill men. A qualitative study is presented in which homophobic motives are examined in detail. Five hospital in-patients were selected. All suffered from paranoid psychosis in which a homophobic theme was prominent. All had attacked with the intention to kill. Two of the victims died. The case records were studied and each patient participated in a semi-structured interview, which was audio-taped. Transcripts were made and studied using discourse analysis with an emphasis on the narrative of events leading to the crime. These cases are used as a basis for suggesting that it may be useful to categorize homophobic violence into three broad categories: non-psychotic violence, violence arising during typical psychotic illness, and violence arising during atypical or brief psychosis. The study describes and compares features of these homophobic states. Non-psychotic homophobia is an attitude often shared with others. It may lead to severe violence, often premeditated, and may influence the development of psychotic ideas. In those with typical psychotic states, abnormal ideas, often bizarre, of a homophobic nature may arise and can be described in the same way as other abnormal ideas in mental illness. In those with atypical psychosis, both the psychosis and the accompanying homophobic violence may be a reaction to a humiliating failure of gender self-esteem, which can be described as severe internalized homophobia. This may generate extreme and unbearable states of mind leading to both suicide and homicide. Inner conflicts about sexual functioning, associated with shame and rage, lead to paranoid attacks. Distinction between different forms of homophobia may be important in providing advice to courts and in planning therapy. © 2006 Taylor & Francis.