While today's news focuses on the
current Archives of General Psychiatry article reporting 1 in 5 college aged students has a
personality disorder, another article just released in the American
Journal of Psychiatry deserves as much attention - probably more.
The article by Jacques Baillargeon and colleagues titled Psychiatric Disorders
and Repeat Incarcerations: The Revolving Prison Door examines the link between mental
illness and risk of multiple incarcerations. Of note, the
authors narrowly construe their definition of mental illness to include only
four categories: major depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and
non-schizophrenic psychotic disorder. Thus, they wisely excluded
substance abuse disorders in their calculations which have greatly inflated the
results of similar previous studies. The study included 79,211 inmates who
began serving a sentence between September 1, 2006, and August 31,
2007.
The tables and graphs tell the story. Contrary to the prevailing wisdom of many advocacy groups, the study adds the emerging yet growing body of literature which suggests severe mental illnesses do indeed seem to be associated with crime and violence (click to enlarge).
