Abstract
Personality disorder was diagnosedin 41 cases (39%) of women referred by the court for forensic psychiatric observation. 73% of all patients at the Department of Forensic Psychiatrywere referred because of aggressive acts, mainlymurder of family members. None of the patients inthe present study had limited accountability butsome had reactive disorders and were not examineduntil their health improved. The most frequentlydiagnosed personality disorder was emotionalinstability and the most typical motives werejealousy and revenge. Because the social consequencesare so severe, further studies of personalitydisorders in women are needed.