Violent and non-violent crime against adults with severe mentalillness

BackgroundLittle is known about the relative extent of crime against people withsevere mental illness (SMI).AimsTo assess the prevalence and impact of crime among people with SMIcompared with the general population.MethodA total of 361 psychiatric patients were interviewed using the nationalcrime survey questionnaire, and findings compared with those from 3138general population controls participating in the contemporaneous nationalcrime survey.ResultsPast-year crime was experienced by 40% of patients v.14% of controls (adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 2.8, 95% CI 2.0–3.8); andviolent assaults by 19% of patients v. 3% of controls(adjusted OR = 5.3, 95% CI 3.1–8.8). Women with SMI had four-, ten- andfour-fold increases in the odds of experiencing domestic, community andsexual violence, respectively. Victims with SMI were more likely toreport psychosocial morbidity following violence than victims from thegeneral population.ConclusionsPeople with SMI are at greatly increased risk of crime and associatedmorbidity. Violence prevention policies should be particularly focused onpeople with SMI.