The Medicalization of Criminal behavior among Mental Patients

Comparison of the arrest rates of mental patients released during 1968 and 1975 with the general population rates shows that over a 30-year period the proportion of males admitted to psychiatric facilities with police records has steadily and consistently increased.

Abstract

The concept of medicalization suggests that a wider range of behaviors is becoming defined as legitimate for medical intervention. Through a comparison of the arrest rates of mental patients released during 1968 and 1975 with the general population rates, the relevance of this process to criminal behavior is examined. In both years the arrest rates for the patient groups exceeded those of the general population, these higher rates being explained by the increasing number of patients with prior police records. Patients without prior arrests had lower arrest rates after release than the general population for all crime categories except property crimes. Comparison of our data with data gathered on patients released in 1946-47 shows that over a 30-year period the proportion of males admitted to psychiatric facilities with police records has steadily and consistently increased. These findings are discussed within the framework of the increasing medicalization of society, with particular concern for adapting this concept to changes resulting from administrative pressures where corresponding changes in ideology are absent.