Association between Violent Crime and Psychosis in Men Serving Prison Terms

Abstract

Psychosis has been associated with committing violent crimes. However, it has been reported that the association is mediated by toxin consumption, personality disorders, and positive symptoms. This study will examine the relationship between different psychological disorders and sociodemographic variables, and violent crime perpetration in a sample of 472 men serving prison terms in Andalusia, Spain. A correlation-based, retrospective study was conducted and data were analyzed through logistic regression. The sample is representative of the Andalusian prison population, with a 95% level of confidence and .02% precision. Inmates were sampled and diagnosed by expert clinicians using the SCID-I and the IPDE-II. We computed bivariate correlations between the aforementioned variables and perpetration of violent crimes (murder, homicide, attempted murder, and injury) to later apply logistic regression and find adjusted odds ratios. We confirmed the association between diagnosis of functional psychoses and violent crime, with a significant adjusted odds ratio in the last model (OR = 3.71; p = .010). Other significant variables that acted like risk factors include suicide attempts (OR = 2.04; p = .046), having received care at a mental health facility in the year before imprisonment (OR = 3.83; p = .008), and more strongly than the psychosis diagnosis, low level of education (OR = 10.32; p = .029). Toxin consumption and personality disorders were not significant in the final model.

Exposure to Traumatic Events and Development of Psychotic Symptoms in a Prison Population: A Network Analysis Approach

“…Indeed, psychotic symptoms have been continually associated with violent crime, particularly homicide (Fazel et al, 2014(Fazel et al, , 2009. This leads to a large number of prisoners with psychotic symptoms (Saavedra et al, 2017) in institutions that are historically unable to provide specialized treatment (Kinsler and Saxman, 2007).…”

High Risk, High Dose?—Pharmacotherapeutic Prescription Patterns of Offender and Non-Offender Patients with Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorder

“…However, offender patients had significantly lower levels of education, and were significantly more often born outside of Switzerland. The correlation between lower levels of education and violence among patients suffering from SSD has been described in previous trials as well [ 48 , 49 , 50 ]. While research on a possible correlation between SSD in migrants and violent behavior shows inconsistent results, it can be argued that cultural and language barriers may prevent patients with SSD from accessing the mental health care and support systems provided in Switzerland, and may also complicate diagnostic and therapeutic processes [ 40 , 51 , 52 ].…”

Delinquency in Croatia: Decoding the Socio-Economic Roots Through Court Chronicles

“…Furthermore, education level, social development, and other factors interplay with income levels in influencing violent crime rates. Saavedra, López, and Trigo (2017) found a significant association between low levels of education and violent crime perpetration (Saavedra et al, 2017). Thus, it is not surprising that in our sample the vast majority of perpetrators of violent crime have no income, or have income below average (Table 1).…”