NCJ Number
95488
Date Published
1977
Length
38 pages
Annotation
The relationship between mental illness and criminal behavior is examined in these proceedings of a Canadian parliamentary subcommittee which held hearings in 1977 and 1978 to consider the prenatal and early childhood experiences that may cause personality disorders or criminal behavior in later life.
Abstract
Dr. E. T. Barker of the Mental Health Center, Ontario Ministry of Health, presented the thesis that certain genetic, biological, and environmental influences are related to psychiatric illness associated with criminal behavior. The causal strength of each influence is under debate. Committee members's questions focused on related issues, including the allocation of treatment resources, preventive interventions, current social conditions and attitudes, the effects of television, the relationship between poverty and violence, critical periods in infant developments, child abuse, school experience, and emotional experiences in the preschool years. (Resources in Education (ERIC) abstract modified)