NCJ Number
113805
Journal
Law and Human Behavior Volume: 12 Issue: 3 Dated: (September 1988) Pages: 295-311
Date Published
1988
Length
17 pages
Annotation
This study uses official Florida records from the 1977-84 period to compare criminal and psychiatric histories of females acquitted by reason of insanity (NGRI), convicted of comparable offenses, and involuntarily hospitalized without criminal involvement.
Abstract
Each group contained 41 subjects matched for age and race. The NGRI and the civilly committed women were comparable in terms of psychiatric history, with the great majority having previous psychiatric hospitalizations. The incidence of psychosis, however, was significantly higher among the civil women than the NGRI. The NGRI women had been arrested significantly more often than the civil women, but less frequently than the convicted women. Length of stay differed strikingly among groups: civil subjects were hospitalized the shortest period, NGRIs longer, and convicted females were incarcerated the longest. Regression-based prediction of length of stay reflected several common predictors for acquitted and convicted women, with offense type being powerful for both groups. This research is compared with other NGRI surveys. Tables and approximately 50 references. (Author abstract modified)