The association between crime and mental disorders is quite old and always have been a matter of debate. The importance of this topic is undeniable – both in terms of the societal aim of reducing crime and spending resources in doing so wisely, and in terms of alleviating the individual consequences and expenses of those affected.

To varying degrees of patients disorders necessitate deformity in respect to psychosis, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and personality disorder. These deformities prevail in variation in physically fit people, symptoms must be seen at the sufficient level of severity and determined in order to be deemed pathological. The American Psychiatric Association gives a formal definition of mental disorder as:

“A clinical significant behavioral or psychological syndrome or pattern that occurs in an individual and that is associated with present distress (e.g. a painful symptom) or disability (i.e. impairment in one or more important areas of functioning) or with the significantly increased risk of suffering deaths, pain, disability or an important loss of freedom”.

Main groups of psychiatric disorders in ICD-10

1. Mental disorders e.g. dementia

2. Changes in behavioral disorders due to psychoactive substance use

3. Schizophrenia

4. Mood disorders

5. Neurotic disorders e.g. phobias, anxiety

6. Behavioral syndromes associated with physiological disturbances and physical factors e.g. eating, sleeping, sexual disorders

7. Disorders of adult personality and behavior

8. Mental retardation

9. Disorders of psychological development e.g. autism

10. Significant Behavioral and emotional disorders with majorly usually occurring in childhood or adolescence.

The Crime Dictionary gives a definition of crime as:

“An action or an instance of negligence that is deemed injurious to the public welfare or morals or to the interests of the state and that is legally prohibited”.

Disorders most related to crime

Schizophrenia-  Patient’s with schizophrenia do not often commit violence but if they do so crime is much brutal than a crime committed by a normal offender. Symptoms are a breakdown in emotions,  thoughts, and perception lives in delusion, societal withdrawal etc.

Delusional Disorder- Patients with delusional disorder doesn’t accept the reality and live in delusion. Symptoms are the presence of non-bizarre delusion.

Major Depressive Disorder- Depression is most strongly associated with the people of 13-19-year-old age groups. Symptoms are thoughts of suicide, utmost depressed mood,  worthlessness, despair, etc.

Antisocial Personality Disorder- ADP is more common in criminal defendants and offenders, the patient must be 18 years old or above and have a history of conduct disorder. The important symptoms of the rights of others are violated.

Risk Factors of Crime/Violence

Personality disorders- Emotionally unstable personality disorder, Sociopathic personality disorder, Immoral behavioral disorder, and other personality disorders frequently apparent in belligerence or brutality. Amalgamation of psychopathic disorder and personality disorder may raise the risk of brutal behavior.

Education- People’s with less education are more prone to suffer with dementia than people with higher education.  Education increase the synaptic density in brain regions that result in the loss of cells that cause dementia.

Peer Pressure- When the person does not comfortable what he/she doing that causes low self-esteem, depression, and anxiety. People with the age group of 13-19 feels more strong emotions that lead to utmost in mood.

Nature of symptoms- Patients more prone to become brutal with neurotic delusion hallucinations, and over-decorated thoughts than other patients. For doctors, it is worth to realize the patient’s own realization of demented thoughts, as it may help in understanding that when a patient is eager to fight back.

Age and Sex- Older adults are more prone to less brutal than young people. In addition, men behave more brutal in comparison to women.

Social stress- People of lower middle class are more prone to behave brutally.

Alcohol and Drug Abuse- Alcohol and Drug abuse rise the risk of baseline mental disorder for the onset of nicotine, alcohol, and illicit drug dependence with abuse over the long-term period.

Personal stress, crisis, or loss- Risk of violence may arise due to several reasons such as Jobless, separation from spouse or single parent, etc. People who have faced or suffered violence in their past are more prone to assault someone.

Timely Introduction- Violent family fights during childhood, physical abuse by a parent, or having a parent with a criminal history may rise a risk to violence.

Clinical Significance

A person’s chance of committing a crime may rise due to some psychopathic condition. Researchers hint that patients with psychiatric disorders may be more prone to brutality if they do not receive sufficient medication have actively come across hallucinations. Such patients are commonly under the influence of their mental disorders such as delusions.  Other comorbidities include conditions such as drug abuse disorder, unwaged, destitute, and secondary consequences of psychiatric disorder are perception disability, combination of the chance of enacting a brutal crime.

The most chief and individualistic factor for criminality and brutality among patients with psychiatric disorders is a prolonged drug abuse disorder. There is a quadruple rise in the chance of enacting a crime in patients with a major psychotropic disorder, comorbid substance use disorder. Research suggests that arise in brutal crime enacted by the peoples with the psychotropic disorder the rise in violent crime committed by individuals with mental illness, may completely be deemed for with a past drug and alcohol abusers. Deep un-medicated psychiatric illness is notable in case of homicide.

Patients with psychiatric disorders confront many problems while taking psychiatric medication. Those problems do not receive immediate treatments, financial issues, lack of financial assistance from the government, and other organizations. These problems may lead to the patients indulged in criminal activities.

Preventing Crime/Violence

The research suggests that rates of violence decrease with the help of sufficient medication for psychiatric illness and drug abuse. CATIE (Clinical Antipsychotic Trials of Intervention Effectiveness) investigators suggest that the rate of the brutality of the respondents who had been under medications of anti-psychiatric. This research interprets that respondents with schizophrenia who were under medication of anti-psychiatric as prescribed were less prone to be brutal than other respondents who were not under medications. Respondents who were diagnosed with immoral behavioral disorders during childhood are exceptions. But this research precludes the medication of clozapine on psychiatric ill respondents.

Patients with schizophrenia and other mental illness, clozapine drug is more effective than other anti-psychiatric drug. Respondents who were are medicated with clozapine had notable lower arrest rate than respondents who were under medication of other antipsychotic drugs.

For people with psychiatric disorder medical treatment is not merely sufficient. Intrusion should be prolonged and encompass a range of psychological approaches, including perception conditioning, dispute management, and drug abuse medication.

We can conclude that in reality there is no adequate or perfect treatment of these mental disorders, because of decrease in funds of mental health services, shorter hospital stays, improper discharge plans splintered care in the society and less options for patients with a double diagnosis.

Case Study

Antisocial personality disorder is not usually considered to be a mitigating factor. In the case of Jimmy M, he was charged with murder in the shooting death of a police officer in November of 1997. Darlene M and Bob Hoover are the parents of Jimmy M. he was brought up by his Grandmother Ms. Washington. He saw his father twice and his mother was an alcoholic and drug abuser. She was arrest and imprisoned before dying by an overdose of drugs in 1989. Jimmy M has a criminal record and past constant antisocial personality disorder. He was suffered from a serious head injury that resulted in neuropsychological evaluation. He developed behavioral problems following his mother’s death. He encountered numerous conflicts with his grandmother. Relation between Jimmy M. and his grandmother was un-stable Jimmy M. stated that they remain close today

Reference:

1.      Hanne Stevens, crime and mental disorder, May 2013.

2.      Noman Ghasis, Yusra Azhar, Jasbir Singh Psychiatric illness and criminality, April 2020.

3.      Harvard Mental Health Letter, Mental illness and violence, January 2011.

4.      Essays, UK. (November 2018). A Case Study That Correlates With Criminal Behavior. Retrieved from https://www.ukessays.com/essays/psychology/a-case-study-that-correlates-with-criminal-behavior-psychology-essay.php?vref=1

Author 

Puru Siddhu

Intern at Dept. of Forensic Science & Criminal Investigation,

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