Biomaterial Database

The criminality of the mentally ill: a dangerous misconception. 1985

L A Teplin

A longstanding controversy is the relative dangerousness and criminality of the mentally ill. The author presents observational data from 1,072 police-citizen encounters in an urban area. The data show that persons exhibiting signs of serious mental disorder were not suspected of serious crimes at a rate disproportionate to their numbers in the population. The patterns of crime for mentally disordered persons and for non-mentally-disordered persons were substantially similar. These data help dispel the myth that the mentally ill constitute a dangerous group prone to violent crime.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D011569	Psychiatric Status Rating Scales	Standardized procedures utilizing rating scales or interview schedules carried out by health personnel for evaluating the degree of mental illness.	Factor Construct Rating Scales (FCRS),Katz Adjustment Scales,Lorr's Inpatient Multidimensional Psychiatric Rating Scale,Wittenborn Scales,Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale,Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview
D003415	Crime	A violation of the criminal law, i.e., a breach of the conduct code specifically sanctioned by the state, which through its administrative agencies prosecutes offenders and imposes and administers punishments. The concept includes unacceptable actions whether prosecuted or going unpunished.	Kidnapping,Poaching,Crimes,Kidnappings
D003617	Dangerous Behavior	Actions which have a high risk of being harmful or injurious to oneself or others.	Behavior, Dangerous,Dangerousness,Hazardous Behavior,Behavior, Hazardous,Behaviors, Hazardous,Dangerous Behaviors,Hazardous Behaviors
D003688	Deinstitutionalization	The practice of caring for individuals in the community, rather than in an institutional environment with resultant effects on the individual, the individual's family, the community, and the health care system.	Deinstitutionalized Persons,Deinstitutionalized Person,Person, Deinstitutionalized,Persons, Deinstitutionalized
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D001523	Mental Disorders	Psychiatric illness or diseases manifested by breakdowns in the adaptational process expressed primarily as abnormalities of thought, feeling, and behavior producing either distress or impairment of function.	Mental Illness,Psychiatric Diseases,Psychiatric Disorders,Psychiatric Illness,Behavior Disorders,Diagnosis, Psychiatric,Mental Disorders, Severe,Psychiatric Diagnosis,Illness, Mental,Mental Disorder,Mental Disorder, Severe,Mental Illnesses,Psychiatric Disease,Psychiatric Disorder,Psychiatric Illnesses,Severe Mental Disorder,Severe Mental Disorders
D012926	Social Control, Formal	Control which is exerted by the more stable organizations of society, such as established institutions and the law. They are ordinarily embodied in definite codes, usually written.	Regulation,Social Control,Control, Social,Controls, Social,Formal Social Control,Formal Social Controls,Regulations,Social Controls
D013240	Stereotyping	An oversimplified perception or conception especially of persons, social groups, etc.	Stigmatization
D014505	Urban Population	The inhabitants of a city or town, including metropolitan areas and suburban areas.	Urban Residence,Urban Spatial Distribution,Distribution, Urban Spatial,Distributions, Urban Spatial,Population, Urban,Populations, Urban,Residence, Urban,Urban Populations,Urban Residences,Urban Spatial Distributions