Gender and Disorder Specific Criminal Career Profiles in Former Adolescent Psychiatric In-Patients

• NCJ Number: 205674
• Journal: Journal of Youth and Adolescence Volume: 33 Issue: 3 Dated: June 2004 Pages: 261-269
• Author(s): Ellen Kjelsberg
• Date Published: June 2004
• Length: 9 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: Norwegian Research Council for Social Research
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This Norwegian study explored the link between various mental disorders and recorded crime along the criminal career dimensions of age at crime debut, crime frequency, crime severity, crime diversity or specialization, the duration of the criminal career, and the age of desistance from further criminal activity.

Abstract

A Norwegian national sample of 1,087 former adolescent psychiatric inpatients (584 males and 503 females) were followed up 15-33 years after their first hospitalization. On the basis of hospital records, all patients were rediagnosed using the diagnostic criteria in DSM-IV. A diagnosis of personality disorder was only made when the patient's maladaptive personality traits appeared to be pervasive, not likely to be limited to the particular developmental stage, and present for at least 1 year. Seventy-eight of the 111 personality disordered girls had borderline personality disorder. In boys, schizotypal personality disorder was most frequent (23 out of 52). On the basis of their diagnoses, the sample was divided into eight diagnostic groups. A total of 564 (52 percent) of the 1,087 participants had criminal records at the follow-up. Of these, 524 had been convicted of felonies. These 524 were the focus of the analysis. Overall crime and specific types of crimes differed significantly between diagnostic groups and between genders. In both genders, criminal convictions were most frequent in disruptive behavior disorders and personality disorders. Among males, the lowest violent crime rate was observed in those with psychotic disorders. Males had more severe criminal careers than females, both quantitatively and qualitatively. The 10 participants with the longest jail sentences were all males; they were repeat offenders with numerous and diverse recorded crimes. None of the 11 found guilty of homicide had a psychotic disorder. Typically, the murderers were chronic repeat offenders with early criminal debuts and long and active criminal careers. 3 tables, 2 figures, and 27 references