Schizophrenia and Crime

TLDR

The study compared crime rates of 790 Swedish schizophrenic patients discharged in 1971 to the general population over 1972–86. The authors assessed relative risk by comparing observed offences among the cohort with expected numbers derived from official statistics. Male schizophrenics had crime rates similar to the general male population, while female schizophrenics had twice the rate; violent offences were four times higher overall, but were almost exclusively of minor severity.

Abstract

To compare the crime rate of schizophrenics with that of the general population, data from the Central Swedish Police Register on 790 schizophrenic patients discharged from hospitals in Stockholm in 1971 was analysed for the period 1972–86. Relative risk of criminal offence was assessed by comparing the observed number of offences committed with the expected number (estimated from official statistics). The crime rate among male schizophrenics was almost the same as that in the general male population, whereas among females it was twice that of the general female population. The rate of violent offences was, however, four times higher among the schizophrenics. The violence recorded was almost exclusively of minor severity.