We conducted this study to examine the frequency of the various identities and behaviors of persecutors in schizophrenic persecutory delusion according to demographic and clinical variables (sex, age, education, presence or absence of religious
affiliation, residence, duration of illness and schizophrenic subtype). Data were collected from 292 patients with definite delusions of persecution from among the 370 schizophrenic patients with delusions who were admitted to Seoul National
Mental
Hospital and the Department of Neuropsychiatry at hanyang University Hospital during the month of October 1991.
With respect to the identity of the persecutor, neighbors and friends were significantly dominant in patients older than the fourth decade. The frequency of political authorities, spies and hostile nations serving as the persecutor increased with
age.
Secret agents, police and army personnel were significantly prevalent among patients with college or higher educational level. God, ghosts and supernatural beings were predominant among those patients with a religious affiliation.
Regarding the behavior of the persecutor, killing was prevalent among male schizophrenics. Rejection was found to be significantly affected by illness duration and patient age; patients who had suffered from schizophrenia for 11 or more years and
those
older than the fourth decade were more apt to have persecutory delusions involving rejection. Cases from small- and medium-sized cities manifested a higher frequency of covert behavior on the part of the persecutor.
All the above findings were discussed in terms of the demographic and clinical variables serving as indirect cultural indices.
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