In a message dated 4/18/2007 1:32:18 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
<snip>
Statistically, mentally ill people are far less likely to commit violent
crimes than the
population at large.
<snip>
Are you confident of that? In the UK something like 40% of those serving
prison sentences are said to have mental health problems, and 60% of those
on remand. Though, of course, the categories *mentally ill* and *normal* are
still remarkably labile.
CW
This is a good point. The statistics on mental illness vary according to
definitions. Is alchoholism, associated with violence, a mental illness?
Also, mental illness is traditionally criminalized. NAMI (the U.S. advocacy
group National Association for the Mentally Ill) reports that mentally ill
people usually are more often victims of violence than perpetrators but more
often arrested. I believe NAMI's statistics for prevalence of violent
behavior are based on the mentally ill population called Axis I by the Diagnostic
and Statistical Manual of Mental Illness IV --the group that includes people
with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
Larissa Shmailo
larissashmailo.blogspot.com
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