To think the majority of those convicted of serious violent offences are mentally ill?

[AgentZigzag]

I've always been of the opinion that the majority of people who commit the most serious violent crimes are suffering from mental illness in some form or other.

This shouldn't be taken as a connection between mental illness and violence as I also think that most people with a mental illness don't commit crime and aren't violent, but rather that most people who have committed a serious crime are mentally ill.

Just taking Peter Sutcliffe as an example, how can it possibly be argued that somebody who has done what he did be anything other than mentally ill? In my mind 'sane' people don't go hitting women round the head with a ball pein hammer.

This is only my opinion, and I'm not posting to cause offence to anyone who has had any experience of violent crime, but I'd be interested to hear what you think?

I[m trying to say that people who do horrible things are more likely to have a mental illness than those who don't

I am NOT saying that those with mental illness are more likely to do horrible things.

They are separate things

I suspect you're saying the same thing but because it's late and I'm drunk tired it's coming out wrong grin

, even

here

A link to the paper I referred to earlier. The researchers found homicide rate in 2005 to be 1.5/100,000.

Rates for any mental disorder are as follows:

1 in 4 British adults experience at least one diagnosable mental health problem in any one year, and one in six experiences this at any given time.

• The Office for National Statistics Psychiatric Morbidity report (2001)

So taking 1 in 6, if mental disorder is more common in violent offences, we should expect that at least 0.25/100,000 homicides were committed by mentally disordered offenders.

The figure from the research was 0.07.

Much lower than expected. Now my head hurts; it's too late on a Saturday night for maths.

But the abstract does challenge the media perception of mental illness.

And Jareth, I take your point. A very small minority of people with mental illness are violent (just as a very small minority of those without mental illness are violent), and it's important to recognise that certain symptoms can increase the likelihood of violence/aggression.

my sil works with the mentally ill & part of her job is to assess people who have been arrested for violent crime to see if they are 'psychopathic'. apparently there are some v clear indicators & yes, a significant % of people arrested for violent crime were born with illnesses which made it difficult for them to be integrated & socialised.

there are also people who have such abusive upbringings, and/or traumatic events, that they become emotionally scarred and unable to function in a more 'normal' way.

so, yes, (according to SIL, who has been doing this job for nearly 30 years) certain types of mentally ill people are more likely to commit violent crime (not all) than other people.

however, (as you said) that doesn't mean that all mentally ill people commit violent crime.

I'd like to reiterate that I HAVE a mental illness, so I'm not being discriminatory in the slightest.

kickassangel, thanks - that was what I was trying to say.

Isn't it that there is often (usually?) something wrong with people's brain if they lack empathy for others and so can't see why they shouldn't harm others? And that sometimes the brain damage/wrong wiring may be caused by severe trauma in childhood, either psychological or physical? But harming others is criminal, and if people don't/can't/won't stop themselves doing it, then society has to find a way to stop them; but re-education may not work? And if they are very manipulative, they may convince society that they have been re-educated, but then go and do it again?

All of that is a different matter from mental illness. More brain damage.

nope too many loose,ill fitting terms/anecdotes being applied to mental illness.it isnt thta staright forward.and fwiw pts woth mental illness are more likely to experience discrimination,violence as result of mental illness.perpetrated because they have mental

erm..

gah, I didn't want to be the one to bring this up, but there is an argument that paedophiles have a mental illness)

I find it interesting that people want serial killers to have some kind of deficiency in their brain that explains their behaviour, but in the case of paedophilia, people cannot accept that it may actually be down to a mental condition/brain chemistry and would rather label them as evil rather than sick/ill

just a thought

no,paedophilia isnt necessarily mental illness.good grief how many more alarmist terms are you going to associate with mental illness

In a way media portrayals of mental illness and the way they connect it to criminality is relevant to what I'm saying in a way, because it shapes how a lot of people see those who have a mental illness and the reasons why such some crimes happen.

I see this as perhaps one reason why mentally ill people are more likely to experience discrimination and violence from wider society.

But for serious violent crimes, where the perpetrator is incarcerated for a significant period of time and not given psychiatric attention, that's saying they were of a sound mind at the times of their crimes, and I just don't believe this to be true in the majority of cases.

you have a subjective i dont believe it opinion,and seems nothing going to shift that

SM, don't 'good grief me'
key word in your post 'necessarily'

Obviously sometimes paedophilia is linked with mental illness, of course it is.

There are plenty of other 'alarmist' terms that I can associate with mental illness.. because plenty of them ARE sometimes associated with mental illness..

i can good grief,as much as you speculate and opine.

then I shall you

I don't think linking paedophilia to mental illness is alarmist, if I remember rightly it's a disorder that is diagnosed and has specific criteria in the DSM/ICD.

scottishmummy, paedophilia IS a mental illness ffs.

'(in psychiatry) a psychosexual disorder in which the fantasy or act of engaging in sexual activity with prepubertal children is the preferred or exclusive means of achieving sexual excitement and gratification. It may be heterosexual or homosexual. '

[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedophilia and I know it's wiki but....}

"Pedophilia (or paedophilia) is a mental disorder in adults or late adolescents (persons age 16 and older) characterized by a primary or exclusive sexual interest in prepubescent children.[1][2][3][4] According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), pedophilia is a paraphilia in which a person has intense and recurrent sexual urges"

DSM/ICD list diagnostic criteria that need to be corroborated and observed before a diagnostic label applied

link

All you can do is speculate and give your opinion, if the so called 'experts' disagree (and every theory can be criticised) all you're left with are the conclusions you draw youself about the evidence, unless you're relying on what someone else thinks of the evidence.

I do think there is a link between mental illness and violent crime.

I have had post natal psychosis, I was capable at that time of ending my life and that of my DDS. I am not in anyway evil. I truly believed that It was the right thing to do.

It is sadly true that there is a link, this by no means indicates that everyone who has a mental illness is violent.

I do not stigmatise the mentally ill as that would include my self.

When I said that it was hard to understand how people who do evil things can be sane, I meant that their evil is beyond comprehension for the sane and good, or at least beyond my comprehension.

[rolls eyes]

I give up... You 'know' you're right, so I'll leave you to it.

(same as every other fucking thread you're on)

cut&paste as you wish,psychiatriust wont diagnose via wiki. corroboration, social-psych history, reported symptoms etc will all be considered

again as hard as you find this paedophiles are not necesarily mentally ill

paedophillia can be associated with mental illness via behaviour, presentation.but having such prediliction isnt indicative if mental illness

I KNOW AND THAT'S WHAT I'VE BEEN SAYING

FFS..