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Mental Disorder and Criminal Behaviour


• Withdrawal states • Paranoia • Agitation and anxiety • Neuropsychiatric effects of long-term use


Acquisitive crime is associated with compulsion to obtain substances in those who are dependent.


Personality disorder Personality disorders are a diverse group, and it is largely cluster B personality disorders that are seen in the context of serious crime (antisocial, borderline and narcissistic). Te defining characteristics of these disorders include rule-breaking and criminal behaviour.


At a population level, antisocial personality disorder is strongly associated with offending, including violent offending, and epidemiological studies of prison populations show between 50 and 70 per cent of inmates satisfy diagnostic criteria for the disorder. Te smaller subset who exhibit ‘psychopathy’ (in terms of the definition by Hare, operationalised through the PCL-R assessment tool) are the more likely to exhibit serious violence.


Te following mechanisms can be routes to violence in those with Cluster B personality disorders:


• Transient psychosis altering perception of reality (often associated with stress or drug use) • Paranoid cognitions and alteration in the perception of threat • Impaired regulation of mood states, including anger • High levels of anxiety and agitation • Impaired empathy and emotion recognition • Disregard for the feelings of others • Impulsivity and lack of capacity for reflection • Need for risk-taking or excitement • Grandiosity and contempt for others


Mania


Individuals with mania may be predisposed to violence and offending because of the symptoms they experience, but any empirical association is weak. Potential mechanisms include:


• Elation • High levels of anxiety and agitation • Impaired judgement • Impulsivity • Hypersexuality • Psychosis where present (see above)


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