Psychiatry Research EG

Background Criminal behavior is strikingly increasing in a sample of mentally ill patients in forensic setting. This necessitates proper assessment of the different factors that reinforce criminality rates. Very few studies investigated the rate of criminal behavior and its correlates among Egyptian mentally ill patients. Aims The current study aimed to investigate the rate of criminal behavior in a sample of Egyptian patients with psychiatric disorders and to identify the various sociodemographic and clinical correlates associated with criminal behavior and its type among these patients. Patients and methods One hundred patients with Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th ed. (DSM-IV) diagnosis of different psychiatric disorders were enrolled in the study. They were recruited from the Acute Psychiatric Inpatient Unit of Institute of Psychiatry, Ain Shams University Hospitals, and were assessed using the following tools: Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders (SCID-I), Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis II Disorders (SCID-II), Symptom Check List-90-Revised, and questionnaire designed for assessment of sociodemographic data and the patients’ past forensic history. Results Twenty-three percent of the study patients had a past history of committing a criminal behavior. Male sex and substance abuse/dependence are the only factors that correlated to high criminal behavior, whereas none of the patients’ personality traits correlated to criminal behavior. High hostility symptoms on Symptom Check List-90- Revised was the only symptom that highly correlated (Pr0.001) to criminal behavior. Personal crimes were more prevalent compared with property crimes in the study sample. None of the clinical variables was found to be significantly correlated with a specific crime type, but patients with polysubstance abuse and those with cluster B personality traits had a greater tendency to commit personal crimes. Conclusion There is a substantial rate of criminal behavior among Egyptian mentally ill patients. Personal crimes are more common in mentally ill patients compared with property crimes. Patients with substance use and hostility had a greater tendency to exhibit criminal behavior.