The Forensic Epidemiology Programme

For many years, there has been debate within the field of psychiatric epidemiology as to whether individuals with mental health disorders are dangerous to others. The traditional academic viewpoint has been that this is not the case, and that this conception among the public general is a stigmatization and stereotypical picture reinforced by prejudice and Hollywood films.

However, research that started over 10 years ago, not least in Sweden, Denmark and Finland, has shown that individuals with mental health problems are more likely to be convicted of crime, especially violent crime. At the same time, it is not clear what the causal mechanisms behind this increased risk are. For example, there is data that strongly indicates that factors other than the mental illness itself can explain much of the crime (e.g. poverty, concurrent psychopathic personality disorders, drug and alcohol abuse, and learning disabilities). Nonetheless, recent studies indicate that, for a subgroup at least, the symptoms of the mental illness are the 'driving force' behind a predisposition to violence, such as individuals with a psychotic illness suffering hallucinations in the form of hearing voices commenting their behaviour and ordering them to do things. However, we still lack knowledge in a number of important areas. While these issues regarding the correlation between mental health and crime have been studied in depth for certain illnesses (especially schizophrenia and other psychotic illness), there are virtually no studies of other illnesses. Similarly, 'violent crime' has been used in studies to group together a wide array of acts (e.g. from murder to assault), and there are no epidemiologic studies of sexual offences.

The scope of this study group covers several issues: What is the risk of being brought to trial for a serious violent crime or sexual offence for individuals with a mental health problem compared with the population at large? What mental disorders feature among those brought to trial for serious violent crime and sexual offences, and what is their distribution? What significance does mental health have on the likelihood of reoffence among mentally ill offenders? For all these issues regarding mental health and crime, it is important to consider the influence of other factors of a more macrosocial character, such as socioeconomic status relating to income, residential area and immigrant background. We are also running projects aimed at investigating the importance of genetic factors contra environmental factors using the Swedish Twin Registry, as well as risk factors such as pre- and perinatal complications using the Swedish Medical Birth Registry.

Scientific Theme Coordinator: Seena Fazel.