DOES PSYCHIATRIC-DISORDER PREDICT VIOLENT CRIME AMONG RELEASED JAIL DETAINEES - A 6-YEAR LONGITUDINAL-STUDY

The authors examined whether jail detainees with schizophrenia, major affective disorders, alcohol or drug use disorders, or psychotic sympt oms (hallucinations and delusions) are arrested more often for violent crimes six years after release than detainees with no disorders. Trai ned interviewers assessed 728 randomly selected male jail detainees us ing the National Institute of Mental Health Diagnostic Interview Sched ule and then obtained follow-up arrest data for six years. Neither sev ere mental disorder nor substance abuse or dependence predicted the pr obability of arrest or the number of arrests for violent crime. Person s with symptoms of both hallucinations and delusions had a slightly hi gher number of arrests for violent crime, but not significantly so. Th ese findings held even after controlling for prior violence and age. T he findings do not support the stereotype that mentally ill criminals invariably commit violent crimes after they are released. Future direc tions for research are suggested.