Justification of Mental Illnesses for Crime in Different Countries | Original Article

ABSTRACT:

The horrific incidents in Aurora, Colorado, and Newtown, Connecticut have reignited societal perceptions of mentally ill people as dangerous and criminals. Unfortunately, rather than research, this perception is founded on speculation and fear. The empirical studies on mental illness and criminal conduct is reviewed in the following article. This literature reveals three important trends. First, compared to the general population, the frequency of mental illness is significantly greater among those who have had experience with the criminal justice system. Second, people with psychotic and externalising behavioural disorders, especially those who abuse drugs and alcohol, are more likely to commit acts of violence than people with other types of mental illness. Third, mental illness is one of several criminogenic risk variables that interact in complicated ways to influence individual behaviour.