Mental Disorder and Offending Behaviour: A Review of Studies on Their Relationship and Arising Methodological Problems
Akıl Hastalığı ve Suçlu Davranışı: İlişkileri Üzerine Yapılan Çalışmalara İlişkin Bir Derleme ve Ortaya Çıkan Metodolojik Problemler
Ceren Mermutluoğlu
Numerous studies in the field of criminology and psychiatry demonstrate that a correlation between mental disorder and criminal behaviour exists. It may be observed by the prison population’s considerably higher level of mental illness records and the overrepresentation of persons with psychiatric disorder within the criminal justice system comparing to the general population. Comorbid alcohol and substance misuse and demographic factors such as age, sex, race, education level, socioeconomic status, criminal tendency in the family, poor parenting may have an impact over the relationship between mental disorder and criminal behaviour. Various research methods such as population surveys, birth cohort studies, and longitudinal studies have been employed in order to measure this relationship, however many of them lead problems as to generalisability. Moreover, conceptual differences make determining such a nexus even more difficult. Evaluating the conclusions of different studies together may provide for a more concrete correlation between two concepts.
Mental Illness, Criminal Behaviour, Criminality, Comorbidity.
Kriminoloji ve psikiyatri alanındaki birçok çalışma akıl hastalığı ve suçlu davranışı arasında bir korelasyon olduğunu ortaya koymaktadır. Bu sonuç, genel nüfusa kıyasla cezaevi nüfusundaki önemli ölçüde yüksek olan akıl hastalığı oranı ve akıl hastalığına sahip kişilerin ceza adaleti sistemi içerisindeki fazlaca temsili ile tespit edilebilir. Alkol ve uyuşturucu maddenin amacı dışında kullanımı ve yaş, cinsiyet, ırk, eğitim seviyesi, sosyoekonomik durum, ailedeki suç işlemeye meyil, kötü aile ilişkileri gibi demografik faktörlerin, akıl hastalığı ile suçlu davranışı arasındaki ilişkiye etkisinden söz edilebilir. Bu ilişkinin tespiti amaçlı genel anket, doğum tarihi bazlı kohort çalışmaları ve uzun vadeli çalışmalar gibi metotlara başvurulmuştur; ancak bu çalışmaların çoğu sonuçların genelleştirilmesi konusunda sorunlara neden olmuştur. Buna ek olarak, terimsel farklılıklar böyle bir ilişkinin varlığının tespitini daha da zorlaştırmıştır. Farklı çalışmaların sonuçlarının birlikte değerlendirilmesi, iki kavram arasındaki korelasyonu daha somut bir hale getirebilir.
Akıl Hastalığı, Suçlu Davranışı, Suçluluk, Komorbidite (Eş Zamanlı Hastalık).
INTRODUCTION
The relationship between mental disorder and crime has been a long disputed issue of different fields of study, namely psychiatry and criminology since the mid-19th century1. There has been a common understanding of both public opinion and in criminal justice system, reflecting that offending behaviour and mental disorder are interrelated issues2. However, such a general acceptance does not trace back to a wide range of scientific researches in the field3. Numerous researches have been conducted in order to establish whether there is any sort of correlation between the two concepts. Some found both concepts heterogeneous and crime as a “culturally determined phenomenon”; and underlined that nexus between these two have a tendency to disappear once the relevant demographic adjustments are made4. However, in more recent studies, a correlation between offending behaviour and mental illnesses has started being reappraised by engaging with wide array of methodologies5.
Studies analysing the nexus between mental disorders and offending behaviour have encountered certain difficulties. Most of these studies have concentrated on establishing certain correlations at “particular moments in time in specified, and often highly selected, groups”6. Taking into account ambiguities arising from the concepts of mental disorder and crime, and also methodological problems related to such researches, it is utterly challenging to conduct an extensive research and come up with a comprehensive conclusion in this field.
In the first part of this essay the relationship between mental disorder and criminal behaviour will be examined under three subsections: first, mental disorders in criminal population; second, criminality in psychiatric population and finally, impact of comorbidity to relationship between mental disorder and offending behaviour. In the second part of the essay, conceptual and methodological difficulties with respect to studies in mental disorder – crime relationship will be analysed.
