The schizophrenia-crime relationship was studied in 151 research participants meeting DSM-IV criteria for schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder and with histories positive or negative for criminal charges, convictions and offences involving violence. These crime-related variables were regressed on a block of nine predictors reflecting non-specific illness context (e.g. demographic, social) and a block of 14 predictors reflecting specific illness content (e.g. symptoms). Context variables predicted charges, with unique contributions from employment status, education and substance use. Further significant validity was provided by content-related predictors including symptoms (paranoia, depression, low energy), but not cognitive performance (verbal and non-verbal ability, working memory, processing speed, verbal memory, word fluency, inhibition, practical cognition). In contrast, neither convictions nor violence were predicted by illness context or content variables. These results suggest that specific contextual and intrinsic aspects of schizophrenic illness make interaction with law enforcement and therefore criminal charges more likely.Keywords Schizophrenia . Crime . Prediction . Symptoms Criminality, interpersonal conflict, violence and dangerousness are associated with schizophrenia in the public mind despite the low prevalence of these behaviors in people with the illness and despite evidence that they are more likely to be victims than perpetrators of crime (Ascher-Svanum et al. 2010). Nevertheless, recent reviews, meta-analyses and empirical reports have found small, but statistically significant associations between psychotic disorders, including schizophrenia, and both violent and non-violent criminal offences, arrest rates and police contacts (Douglas et al.The persistence and social salience, if not the magnitude, of the schizophrenia-criminality link may contribute to policy and service decisions adversely affecting marginalized people diagnosed with serious mental illness. This link may reinforce the stigma that impedes their quality of life and limits access to health and social services. Hence understanding the nature of the schizophrenia-criminality interface is important from both scientific and clinical perspectives.One explanation for the association between schizophrenia and crime-related behaviors is that variables embedded in the context of the illness experience, but not intrinsic to the disease process itself, increase the probability of these behaviors. For example, social disadvantage, income and educational inequality are predictors of crime in the general population and may be strongly represented in the schizophrenia population (Kelly 2000;Daly et al. 2001). Thus Brekke et al. (2001 found that although violence against other people was rare, almost half of community-dwelling individuals with schizophrenia had contact with police and almost a quarter were charged with offences. Younger age, frequent address changes and residential instability, as well as poor social functioning pred...