Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the prevalence of mental disorders in convicted sex offenders admitted to the Psychiatric Custody and Treatment Hospital (Forensic Psychiatric Facility). METHOD: 89 patient records of males admitted from March 2005 to August 2006 were analyzed. The analysis included evaluation of two study groups: Group I comprised subjects who had committed sex offenses (sexual offenders) while Group II contained subjects convicted for other crimes (non-sexual offenders). Variables studied were: age bracket, years of schooling, marital status, skin color, place of birth, previous psychiatric admissions and psychiatric diagnosis. RESULTS: Mental retardation and personality disorders were the mainly diagnoses in Group I (sexual offenders) (61,76% and 29,41% respectively). In the other hand, schizophrenic subjects predominated in Group II (non-sexual offenders) (82,93%). CONCLUSION: Different from international data, we have found low prevalence of personality disorders among Brazilian forensic population and we believe that it's due to a distinguishing characteristic of the Brazilian legal system, which does not consider personality disorder a mental disease, thus, not prompting these patients to civil commitment.
Highlights
The motivations for human criminal behavior have been the subject of extensive study in several countries[1,2,3]
Comparison of specific diagnoses between sexual offenders and non-sexual offenders revealed a higher rate of schizophrenia (82.9%) among non-sexual offenders (p = 0.000) and a higher prevalence of mental retardation among se
This study sought to determine the prevalence of psychiatric diagnoses among subjects convicted of a range of crimes
Summary
The motivations for human criminal behavior have been the subject of extensive study in several countries[1,2,3]. Gaining greater insight and knowledge on the risk or protective factors for violent behavior is valuable to guide intervention and prevention projects to reduce the incidence of crimes[5]. Surveys are devised to gain a better understanding of the etiology of violent behavior, and address clinical, epidemiological and etiological issues thought to be associated with violent behavior[6]. Numerous studies have shown a highly complex association between mental diseases and violent behavior[7,8,9,10]. The mentally ill who perpetrate crimes are incarcerated and treated in special institutions following their conviction. In Brazil, these entities are called “Casa de Custódia” (Custody Hospitals) and their remit is the isolation and treatment of the mentally ill[11]
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