Forensic psychiatric assessments in the Northwest territories

Criminal behavior in males with affective disorders

Prevalence of criminal behavior in a population of 261 male inpatients with affective disorders was studied. The patients were divided into 3 RDC subgroups and compared with the same number of matched subjects drawn from the general population. The full account of conviction records in the criminal register was used as a measure of criminal behavior. Altogether, 42% of patients and 31% of non-patients had a criminal record. A higher criminality rate was found in bipolar patients and in patients suffering from unipolar minor or intermittent depression, whereas no increased criminality rate was found in patients with unipolar major depression.

Mental disorder and criminality. Male alcoholism

This study investigated the lifetime prevalence of criminal behavior in a population of 360 Research Diagnostic Criteria alcoholics. The same number of control subjects were drawn from the general population of the same catchment area and matched with the patients with regard to sex, age, marital status, occupational level, and community size. The full account of conviction records in a criminal register was used as a measure of criminal behavior. Altogether, 68% of patients vs. 37% of controls had any criminal record. Higher rates were found for alcoholics than for controls for all types of crime; differences were especially pronounced in crimes against property and in violent crimes. We conclude that alcoholism contributes to criminal behavior to a considerable degree, independently of sociodemographic factors.

An evaluation of legal outcome following pretrial forensic assessment

This paper constitutes the first stage of data analysis in a larger controlled study designed to assess the effect of a forensic psychiatric assessment on legal disposition defined in three ways: 1. the number of days spent in custody prior to trial; 2. the number of sentenced days of incarceration; and 3. the conviction rate. A historical cohort design was used to follow two cohorts of individuals remanded, pretrial, to Southern Alberta Provincial Correctional Centres between 1988 and 1989. The study cohort consisted of all offenders detained who received a forensic psychiatric assessment. The comparison cohort consisted of a random sample of persons detained who did not undergo a forensic assessment. Because of small numbers, individuals below the age of 18 and women were excluded from study. This paper compares socio-legal characteristics of study and comparison subjects in order to better understand forensic psychiatric referral patterns and identify potentially confounding factors that would need to be controlled in subsequent analyses of legal outcomes. No differences were noted with respect to educational level but forensic subjects were found to be slightly older (average of 31 years compared to 29 years). Aboriginal peoples (Native Indian, Inuit and Metis) were three times more common among non-forensic offenders. Forensic patients were more likely to have had a prior forensic assessment but less likely to have a prior criminal detention. In addition, forensic patients were three times more likely to be charged with a crime against a person and counted more offenses in the target episode than comparison subjects.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)