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Incipient offending among schizophrenia patients after first contact to the psychiatric hospital system

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 April 2020

Runa Munkner ,
Soeren Haastrup ,
Torben Joergensen  and
Peter Kramp
Runa Munkner*
Affiliation:
The Psychiatric Department, Glostrup University Hospital, Copenhagen County, Denmark Research Centre for Prevention and Health, Glostrup University Hospital, Copenhagen County, Denmark The Clinic of Forensic Psychiatry, Ministry of Justice, Copenhagen, Denmark
Soeren Haastrup
Affiliation:
The Psychiatric Department, Glostrup University Hospital, Copenhagen County, Denmark
Torben Joergensen
Affiliation:
Research Centre for Prevention and Health, Glostrup University Hospital, Copenhagen County, Denmark
Peter Kramp
Affiliation:
The Clinic of Forensic Psychiatry, Ministry of Justice, Copenhagen, Denmark
*
*Corresponding author. Tel./fax: +45 38 88 5050. E-mail address: [email protected] (R. Munkner).
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Abstract

The study examines how age, sex and substance use disorder are associated with the risk of committing a criminal offence. The study explicitly examines the risk after the first contact to the psychiatric hospital system and after the diagnosis of schizophrenia for those with no previous criminal record; the association between previous non-violent criminality and later violent criminality is also analysed. The study sample comprised 4619 individuals ever diagnosed with schizophrenia. All solved offences were accessible. Data were analysed using Cox's regression. Schizophrenic men had twice the risk of schizophrenic women of committing both violent and non-violent offences. A registered substance use disorder increased the risk 1.9- to 3.7-fold, depending on the starting point for the analyses, while increasing age on first contact or when diagnosed with schizophrenia diminished the risk. Previous non-violent criminality increased the risk for later violent criminality 2.5- to 2.7-fold, depending on the starting point for the analyses. The results suggest that the psychiatric treatment system can play an active role in preventing criminality among individuals with schizophrenia. The preventive measures should be based on a thorough assessment including criminal history at intake and alertness toward young psychotic men with substance use disorders and especially if they also have a criminal history.

Keywords

SchizophreniaForensic psychiatryCrimeEpidemiological factorsSubstance-related disorders
Type
Original article
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 20 , Issue 4 , June 2005 , pp. 321 - 326
Copyright
Copyright © Elsevier SAS 2005

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