Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-ndw9j Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T06:56:10.996Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The epidemiology of crime, violence and schizophrenia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 August 2018

Simon Wessely
Simon Wessely*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Medicine, King's College Hospital, Denmark Hill, London SE5 9RS
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

The infamous Hungerford Massacre, the multiple murders committed by Michael Ryan in the Berkshire town of Hungerford on 19 August 1987, remain firmly in the public's imagination. It would have been difficult for anyone reviewing the newspapers of that and subsequent days not to conclude that Michael Ryan was mentally ill – headlines ranged from “Day of the Maniac” to “Matricide Points to Schizophrenia”. Because Ryan killed himself and thus there was no possibility of a court case, psychiatrists were free to comment about his mental state and psychiatric diagnosis.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 170 , Issue S32: Assessing risk in the mentally disordered , April 1997 , pp. 8 - 11
Copyright
Copyright © 1997 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

American Psychiatric Association (1987) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd edn, revised) (DSM–III–R). Washington, DC: APA.Google Scholar
Appleby, L. & Wessely, S. (1988) The influence of the Hungerford massacre on the public opinion of mental illness. Medicine, Science and the Law, 28, 291–295.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Farrington, D. (1981) The prevalence of convictions. British Journal of Criminology, 21, 173–175.Google Scholar
Gibbons, J. S., Horn, S. H., Powell, J. H., et al (1984) Schizophrenic patients and their families: a survey in a psychiatric service based on a DGH unit. British Journal of Psychiatry, 144, 70–77.Google Scholar
Humphreys, M., Johnstone, E. C., MacMillan, J. F., et al (1992) Dangerous behaviour preceding first admissions for schizophrenia. British Journal of Psychiatry, 161, 501–505.Google Scholar
Johnstone, E., Crow, T., Johnson, A., et al (1986) The Northwick Park study of first episodes of schizophrenia. I: Presentation of the illness and problems relating to admission. British Journal of Psychiatry, 148, 115–120.Google Scholar
Lagos, J., Perlmutter, K. & Saexinger, H. (1977) Fear of the mentally ill: empirical support for the common man's response. American Journal of Psychiatry, 134, 1134–1137.Google Scholar
Lindqvist, P. & Allebeck, P. (1990) Schizophrenia and crime: a longitudinal follow-up of 644 schizophrenics in Stockholm. British Journal of Psychiatry, 157, 345–350.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Monahan, J. & Steadman, H. (1983) Crime and mental illness: an epidemiological approach. In Crime and Justice, vol. 4 (eds N. Morris & M. Tonry). Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Robertson, G. (1988) Arrest patterns among mentally disordered offenders. British Journal of Psychiatry, 153, 313–316.Google Scholar
Swanson, J., Holzer, C., Ganju, V., et al (1990) Violence and psychiatric disorder in the community: evidence from the Epidemiologic Catchment Area surveys. Hospital Community Psychiatry, 41, 761–770.Google ScholarPubMed
Taylor, P. J. (1985) Motives for offending amongst violent and psychotic men. British Journal of Psychiatry, 147, 491–498.Google Scholar
Taylor, P. J. & Gunn, J. (1984) Violence and psychosis. I: Risk of violence among psychotic men. British Medical Journal, 288, 1945–1949.Google Scholar
Wessely, S. & Taylor, P. (1991) Madness and crime; criminology or psychiatry? Criminal Behaviour & Mental Health, 1, 193–228.Google Scholar
Wessely, S., Castle, D., Douglas, A., et al (1994) The criminal careers of incident cases of schizophrenia. Psychological Medicine, 24, 483–502.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
World Health Organization (1978) Mental Disorders. Glossary and Guide to their Classification in Accordance with the Ninth Revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-9). Geneva: WHO.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.