Offense Characteristics of Career Criminals with Severe Mental Disorders

Abstract

This article examined the offense characteristics between mentally disordered and non-mentally disordered inmates within two distinct subgroups of high rate offenders: "repeat" and "recidivist" offenders. The results indicated that the mentally disordered recidivists were charged more with minor crimes than the non-mentally disordered recidivists. This finding, coupled with the social differences found among non-serious repeat offenders, suggests that career criminals are not as homogenous-as a group than is generally assumed in the literature.