Abstract
BackgroundFemales who perpetrated violence in the community have important mental health and public protection implications. There is a dearth of research in this area. This study investigated the prevalence of psychiatric morbidity, personality disorders as well as victim characteristics and violence risk factors of women in the community who self-reported violence against others.MethodsThe study sample consisted of 8,275 community women aged 16–74 years obtained from the 2000 and 2007 UK national psychiatric morbidity surveys. Self report incidences of violence, personality disorders and the presence of psychiatric symptoms were assessed by interviews and/or established structured psychiatric assessment protocols.ResultsWeighted prevalence of female violence, which primarily involved partners and friends, was 5.5% in 2000 and 5.1% in 2007. Violence-prone women also had significantly higher prevalence of common mental disorders and comorbidity (adjusted odds ratio 3.3 and 2.9 respectively) than non-violent women. Multivariate analyses identified eight significant risk factors that characterized violence prone women: young age, residing in social-assisted housing, presence of early conduct problems, victim of domestic violence, self-harming, excessive drinking and past criminal justice involvements.ConclusionA higher prevalence of common mental disorders and some types of personality disorder was found among violence prone women compared to their non-violence prone counterparts. The identified violence risk factors could be used to develop a quick and easily administered rating tool suitable for use by non-mental health trained frontline workers such as police and social support workers in the community to identify violence-prone women. Mental health and support services then can be provided to them for mental health care and violence prevention purposes.
Highlights
Females who perpetrated violence in the community have important mental health and public protection implications
An effective public health approach should include the development of a comprehensive understanding of the magnitude, scope, characteristics and consequences of the many facets of violence based on empirical research, the results of which can be used in violence prevention and intervention
Within the criminal justice sector, studies of violence and violence prediction have predominantly focused on violence perpetrated by high risk, male offenders or those with forensic mental health problems
Summary
Females who perpetrated violence in the community have important mental health and public protection implications. An effective public health approach should include the development of a comprehensive understanding of the magnitude, scope, characteristics and consequences of the many facets of violence based on empirical research, the results of which can be used in violence prevention and intervention. Within the criminal justice sector, studies of violence and violence prediction have predominantly focused on violence perpetrated by high risk, male offenders or those with forensic mental health problems. Results from these studies have led to the development of violence prediction tools and effective intervention programmes [2] to reduce violence among male offenders and patients. Research on assessing risks of violence in non-incarcerated women is very limited [6]
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