Criminal victimization of persons with severe mental illness

Objective: The types and amounts of crime experienced by persons with sever e mental illness were examined to better understand criminal victimization in this population. Methods: Subjects were 331 involuntarily admitted psych iatric inpatients who were ordered by the court to outpatient commitment af ter discharge. Extensive interviews provided information on subjects' exper ience with crime in the previous four months and their perceived vulnerabil ity to victimization, as well as on their living conditions and substance u se. Medical records provided clinical data. Results: The rate of nonviolent criminal victimization (22.4 percent) was similar to that in the general p opulation (21.1 percent). The rate of violent criminal victimization was tw o and a half times greater than in the general population-8.2 percent versu s 3.1 percent. Being an urban resident, using alcohol or drugs, having a se condary diagnosis of a personality disorder, and experiencing transient liv ing conditions before hospitalization mere significantly associated with be ing the victim of a crime, In the multivariate analysis, substance use and transient living conditions were strong predictors of criminal victimizatio n; no demographic or clinical variable was a significant predictor. Given t he relatively high crime rates, subjects' perceived vulnerability to victim ization was unexpectedly low; only 16.3 percent expressed concerns about pe rsonal safety. Those with a higher level of education expressed greater fee lings of vulnerability. Conclusions: The study found a substantial rate of violent criminal victimization among persons with severe and persistent men tal illness. Results suggest that substance use and homelessness make crimi nal victimization more likely.