Background: A relationship exists between mental disorder and offending behaviours but the nature and extent of the association remains in doubt. Method: Those convicted in the higher courts of Victoria between 1993 and 1995 had their psychiatric history explored by case linkage to a register listing virtually all contacts with the public psychiatric services. Results: Prior psychiatric contact was found in 25% of offenders, but the personality disorder and substance misuse accounted for much of this relationship. Schizophrenia and affective disorders were also over-represented, particularly those with coexisting substance misuse. Conclusions: The increased offending in schizophrenia and affective illness is modest and may often be mediated by coexisting substance misuse. The risk of a serious crime being committed by someone with a major mental illness is small and does not justify subjecting them, as a group, to either increased institutional containment or greater coercion.
CITATION STYLE
Wallace, C., Mullen, P., Burgess, P., Palmer, S., Ruschena, D., & Browne, C. (1998). Serious criminal offending and mental disorder: Case linkage study. British Journal of Psychiatry, 172(JUNE), 477–484. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.172.6.477
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