Threat/Control-Override Model

The threat/control-override (TCO) model provides scholars with a means for understanding the link between psychotic disorders and violent behavior. While trying to understand the association between mental illness and violence, Bruce Link and his colleagues identified a subset of psychotic symptoms that the researchers term TCO symptoms. Individuals who are experiencing TCO symptoms are likely to act out violently in two situations: if the symptoms cause the person to feel threatened by others (i.e., threat) or if the symptoms override internal controls that might otherwise block violent tendencies (i.e., control-override). In the first instance, if an individual defines the situation as threatening and real, violence is likely to occur in a rational fashion. In the second instance, if a symptom leads to a definition of ...