Schizophrenia and Crime

Abstract

To compare the crime rate of schizophrenics with that of the general population, data from the Central Swedish Police Register on 790 schizophrenic patients discharged from hospitals in Stockholm in 1971 was analysed for the period 1972–86. Relative risk of criminal offence was assessed by comparing the observed number of offences committed with the expected number (estimated from official statistics). The crime rate among male schizophrenics was almost the same as that in the general male population, whereas among females it was twice that of the general female population. The rate of violent offences was, however, four times higher among the schizophrenics. The violence recorded was almost exclusively of minor severity.