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A European Association of Psychology and Law - Student Society Publication June 2011

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Despite increasing awareness about the
nature and causes of mental illness, the
stigmatization of severe mental disorders
may be intensifying in response to the
powerful perceived correlation between
mental disorder and dangerousness.
7
As a
result of the stigma attached to mental
illness, which may prevent affected persons
from seeking treatment, and the deficit in
mental health care resources; people with
mental illnesses are at increased risk of
becoming entangled in the criminal justice
system.
8

Around 7% of all people with whom police
officers have contact have a mental illness.
9

Police officers have broad discretionary
powers when they encounter someone
whom they suspect is suffering from a
mental disorder. They may: arrest him or
her, take the individual for psychiatric
assessment or refer him or her to
appropriate mental health services. Police
officers may, like the majority of the general
population, believe there is a robust
correlation between mental illness and risk
of violence. Although it is uncertain whether
individuals with mental illnesses are more
likely to be arrested than those without, this
misconception arguably affects the ways in
which police officers treat members of the
public who present signs of mental illness.
As with law enforcement officials, judges
and jurors might also adopt stereotypical
misconceptions, such as the view that people
with mental disorders are responsible for
FACT SHEET: Mentally Ill Offenders
Mentally ill offenders
1
There is a high prevalence of misconceptions
regarding mentally ill individuals and the
risk they pose to the public. Common
questions on this topic include: Are mentally
ill individuals more likely to be violent? How
do police deal with mentally ill individuals?
What is the insanity plea?
This fact-sheet is intended to aid those who
are interested in the link between mental
illness and offending by reviewing
information on prevalence rates of mental
illness, law enforcement strategies, how
courts deal with mental illness, and the
insanity defense.
Approximately one in four people will
experience some form of mental illness
during their lifetime.
1
Up to 75% of the
population consider people with mental
illnesses to be dangerous
2
and believe that
the public should be better protected from
[them].
3
While there is some data that
supports this concern,
4
it has been criticized
as unreliable on a number of grounds.
5

Although there is an elevated risk of violence
posed by mentally ill individuals, especially
those who experience so-called TCO
symptoms (thought-control-override), this
risk needs to be considered in context.
Characteristics such as being young, male,
and engaging in hazardous drinking are all
significantly better predictors of violence
than mental illness.
6



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Danielle Andrewartha, PhD Candidate & Julia Shaw, PhD Candidate
Mental illness and criminal justice
Court context
Prevalence and perceptions

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A European Association of Psychology and Law - Student Society Publication June 2011

FACT SHEET: Mentally Ill Offenders

Qui ck summary:
Mental illness is not typically a risk factor for dangerousness
Only few symptoms of mental illness may contribute to
violence (particularly TCO symptoms)
Misconceptions contribute to higher rates of mental illness in
the criminal justice system
The insanity plea helps those whose mental illness has
caused criminal behavior to get the help they need
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3
their conditions and can control their
behavior if they try, and believe that
shocking crimes committed by people with
mental illnesses are representative of all
people with mental illness. It may be as a
result of these attitudes that offenders with
mental disorders have higher rates of
conviction and often receive harsher
sentences. The rates of mental illness among
incarcerated persons are approximately 16%
of all males and 24% of all females. These
rates are four to five times higher than the
levels of mental illness within the general
population.
10

When a defendant claims to not be
criminally responsible on account of mental
disorder, they are using the insanity defense.
While it is often referred to by other names,
many countries have some version of the
insanity defense. This defense is designed for
people who do not have the capacity for
understanding right and wrong at the time
of their criminal act, and to help them get
treatment.
11
For a mentally ill individual to
be considered not responsible for a criminal
act there has to be strong evidence to suggest
that their particular mental illness (or
4
symptoms thereof) directly caused the
criminal behavior, and that they did not
understand the consequences of their actions
at the time of the offence. Simply having a
mental illness is not enough to justify this
defense. For example, a mother who is
schizophrenic and experiences
hallucinations that command her to kill her
children because they are actually spawns of
the devil, would likely be eligible for the
insanity defense. However, her
schizophrenia alone would not suffice as a
legal excuse for her actions. Because this
kind of defense is often hard to uphold, it is
used only in rare cases and is often
not successful in court.
Overall, the current literature suggests that
although mental illness is overrepresented in
prisons and jails, mental illness is not
typically a risk factor for dangerousness.
Unfortunately the criminal justice system
often overlooks this and is overall more
likely to sentence the mentally ill. Finally,
the insanity defense provides an avenue for
those whose mental illness has caused
criminal behavior to get the help they need.
Conclusion
Insanity defense


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A European Association of Psychology and Law - Student Society Publication June 2011
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Where can I get more information?
References
FACT SHEET: Mentally Ill Offenders

1
1. Ronald Kessler et al, Prevalence, Severity,
and Comorbidity of Twelve-month DSM-IV
Disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey
Replication (NCS-R) (2005) 62(6) Archives of
General Psychiatry 617.
2. Bruce Link et al, Public Conceptions of
Mental Illness: Labels, Causes,
Dangerousness, and Social Distance (1999) 89
American Journal of Public Health 1328.
3. Simon Braunholtz et al, Well? What Do You
Think? (2006): The Third National Scottish
Survey of Public Attitudes to Mental Health,
Mental Well-being and Mental Health Problems
(2007) [31]
<http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Do
c/197512/0052833.pdf> at 20 June 2011.
4. See, for example, Judith Rabkin, Criminal
Behavior of Discharged Mental Patients:
Critical Appraisal of the Research (1979) 86
Psychological Bulletin 1.
5. See for critique and analysis Patrick Corrigan
and Amy Cooper, Mental Illness and
Dangerousness: Fact or Misperception, and
Implications for Stigma in Patrick Corrigan
(ed), On the Stigma of Mental Illness: Practical
Strategies for Research and Social Change (2005)
165, 167-70.
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2
6. See, for example, Patrick Corrigan and Amy
Cooper, Mental Illness and Dangerousness:
Fact or Misperception, and Implications for
Stigma in Patrick Corrigan (ed), On the
Stigma of Mental Illness: Practical Strategies for
Research and Social Change (2005) 165; Jeremy
Coid et al, Violence and Psychiatric
Morbidity in the National Household
Population of Britain: Public Health
Implications (2006) 189(1) The British Journal
of Psychiatry 12. See generally: EAPL-S Fact
Sheet Risk Assessment at
www.eaplstudent.com.
7. A Stier S and Hinshaw, 'Explicit and Implicit
Stigma against Individuals with Mental
Illness' (2007) 42(2) Australian Psychologist
106.
8. See for discussion D Andrewartha Words
Will Never Hurt?: Media Stigmatisation of
Mental Illness in the Criminal Justice
Context (2010) 35(1) Alternative Law Journal
4.
9. D Chappell, Policing and Emotionally
Disturbed People: Disseminating
Knowledge, Removing Stigma and
Enhancing Performance (2008) 40 Australian
Journal of Forensic Sciences 37, 38. 10
10. Stephanie Hartwell, Triple Stigma: People
With Mental Illness and Substance Abuse
Problems in the Criminal Justice System
(2004) 15 Criminal Justice Policy Review 84, 87.
11. Torry, Z. D., & Billick, S. B. (2010).
Overlapping universe: Understanding legal
insanity and psychosis. Psychiatric Quarterly,
81(3), 253-262. doi:10.1007/s11126-010-9134-2


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