Year: 2008
Type: article
Abstract: Parasomnia" refers to unusual behavior, especially violent or injurious acts, associated with sleep.The term is invoked increasingly in the hope of absolving someone accused of violent nocturnal behavior from criminal and civil liability.In such cases, a sleep medicine specialist may be invited by law enforcement agencies, the legal community, or both to assist in the criminal investigation or to render a medical opinion about these often bizarre behaviors.It is thought that if these complex behaviors were performed while the person accused of the acts was still technically asleep then they were performed without consciousness or full awareness.In this way the defense team is able to develop a "sleepwalking defense" under the guise of classic automatism.This latter maneuver was first introduced in the British House of Lords around 1843 under the M'Naghten Rules and formulated upon the compassionate principle that it is morally wrong to punish an individual who is deprived, either permanently or temporarily, of the intent that is necessary for the act to be defined as a crime.It is likely that violence during the sleep period is more frequent than previously assumed.In one study, 2 percent of the adults surveyed reported violent behaviors arising during the sleep period [1], and there is growing appreciation that abnormal sexual behaviors, described as "sleepsex" or "sexsomnia," can emerge during sleep.In a comprehensive review on sleep-related disorders and abnormal sexual behaviors published in Sleep, Schenck et al. listed a broad range of sleep-related behaviors with self, bed partners, or others that included masturbation, sexual vocalizations, fondling, sexual intercourse, sexual assault, and ictal sexual hyperarousal [2]. A Case of Sexual Assault Attributed to ParasomniaA legal case will help me illustrate the role of an expert physician in sleep-related violence trials.Early on a Sunday morning, the county sheriff responded to a 911 call in reference to alleged sexual battery of a minor.According to the sworn statement, a 12-year-old girl had spent the previous evening at the home of her best friend who served as her witness in the complaint.The victim said that she fell asleep at 1:15 a.m. on the couch in front of the television in the living room while her friend slept on a nearby couch.She awoke suddenly at 4:30 a.m. to the feeling of someone touching her inner thighs but, thinking she had been dreaming, quickly fell back to sleep.A few moments later she awoke again and became aware enough to realize that her legs had
Source: The AMA Journal of Ethic
Author: Michel A. Cramer Bornemann
Institution: Hennepin County Medical Center
Language: English
Topic: Sleep and related disorders
Subfield: Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W71672453