PERSONALITY DISORDERS AND CRIME

Abstract

As it is known, the prevalence of mental disorders in the penitentiary system is high. Among mental disorders, there are psychoses of different genesis, affective disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, personality disorders, substance abuse, dual disorder, etc. The study within the prison system of the relationship between crime committed by an individual and mental disorders is a very interesting current problem. I think the study of personality disorders in prisons deserves special attention. The goal of this study was to examine personality disorders in prisoners placed in the psychiatric ward of the medical unit of the accused and convicted treatment facility. Of the 501 patients studied, the majority were men (448) and the minority were women (12) what is consistent with the statistics for the penitentiary system as a whole. Indicators such as age, place of permanent residence, and education were included in the survey and are presented in the corresponding tables. These tables show that the average age of the participants is young (39 years), most of them live in the regions (59.3%), and have secondary education (71.3%). According to the results of the study, 77% of the participants were diagnosed with emotionally unstable (borderline) personality disorder (F60.3), which is included in the B-cluster of personality disorders. This, on its turn, as the relevant literature shows, is consistent with the findings of other studies. However, the given studies show: B Cluster personality disorders give the following picture: antisocial personality disorder in men (47%); and borderline and antisocial personality disorder in women (25% and 21%, respectively).