This 'Research in Brief' reports on a six-State study conducted for the National Institute of Justice on crime and mental illness. It concludes that the deinstitutionalization of State mental hospitals does not seem to have been the prime factor in the dramatic increase in State prison populations; however, the release of mental patients may have affected the population of local jails.
While mental disorder does not seem to predispose people to criminality, it is true that the amount of mental disorder among criminals (and the amount of criminality among those who are mentally disordered) is higher than in the population at large. The explanation, according to the study's findings, lies in the fact that both criminality and mental disorder are associated with the same demographic factors -- age, gender, and race. However, these findings refer to the relationship between crime and mental disorder in various groups, not individuals. Study findings are examined in detail, and data are delineated in tables. A six-item selected bibliography is provided.
Citation
John T. Monahan & Henry J. Steadman, Crime and Mental Disorder, National Institute of Justice (1984).