Am J Psychiatry 1978; 135:33-42
Copyright © 1978 by American Psychiatric Association
Crime and violence among mental patients reconsidered in view of the new legal relationship between the state and the mentally ill
L Sosowsky
The author compared the arrest rates of 301 former state mental hospital
patients with those of the local county population and selected U.S.
cities. He found that the patients had a markedly higher incidence of
arrests for criminal behavior, including violent offenses, than either of
the comparison groups. Patients who were female, aged 20- 30, and nonwhite
had higher arrest rates for violent offenses than the rest of the study
group. These findings are at variance with those of earlier studies but are
in general agreement with more recent studies. The author suggests the need
for further research in order to more completely identify those factors
which explain the high crime rate among the mentally ill.
