NCJ Number
101292
Journal
British Journal of Criminology Volume: 26 Issue: 1 Dated: (January 1986) Pages: 63-78
Date Published
1986
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This 1982 study examined the incidence of mental disorder among 183 British men and women who had received life sentences. Using official medical and other records, supervising officers from the Inner London Probation Service completed a questionnaire for each lifer.
Abstract
A high incidence of psychiatric disorder was found both for those lifers serving prison sentences and those released into the community. Overall, two-thirds of the lifers had a psychiatric diagnosis. Nearly 10 percent were diagnosed as schizophrenic, a slightly higher proportion as depressive, and a third had received a definite diagnosis of personality disorder. In most of the latter cases, personality disorder was not the sole diagnosis, being most frequently associated with diagnoses of alcoholism, drug abuse, or depressive illness. On superficial social measures, the released lifers had adjusted well to the community. However, nearly a third had been recalled at some stage, and there was a suggestion that psychiatric disorder (particularly alcohol abuse and depression) may have been an important factor in the decision to recall. Tables, an appended case study, and 24 references. (Author abstract modified)