Desai R A, Lam J, Rosenheck R A
Northeast Program Evaluation Center, VA Connecticut, and Yale University Department of Psychiatry, West Haven 06516, USA.
J Nerv Ment Dis. 2000 Jun;188(6):324-32. doi: 10.1097/00005053-200006000-00002.
It has been suggested that criminal justice involvement among the homeless, particularly those with mental illness, is largely situational. The objective of this study was to assess, in a sample of homeless seriously mentally ill people, the prevalence of childhood conduct disorder behaviors as a risk factor for adult criminal activity as well as the extent and types of adult criminal justice contact. Data were taken from the national ACCESS program, which conducted extensive baseline interviews with 7,222 homeless seriously mentally ill adults. The interview assessed demographics, childhood risk factors for criminal activity such as conduct disorder behaviors, foster care, and parental abuse, as well as current illness severity and recent criminal justice contact. The 2-month arrest rate in this sample was much higher than national rates (11% compared with 1% annually in the general population). Although most arrests were for minor crimes (10.8%), there were also substantial rates of arrest for major (2.7%) and substance-related charges (2.0%). The prevalence of a history of conduct disorder behavior was also substantial (55% in male subjects, 40% in female subjects), and conduct disorder was a strong predictor of recent criminal justice involvement, even after controlling for other predictors of arrest (odds ratio = 1.76 for major crimes, 1.49 for minor crimes, and 1.98 for substance-related crimes). Recent literature has criticized a trend to criminalize homeless mentally ill persons for attempting to get needed food, shelter, or medical attention. However, these data indicate that at least some proportion of arrests in this population are of people who have been exhibiting antisocial behavior since early adolescence, and that early antisocial behavior is a strong predictor of all types of recent arrests in this population.
有人认为，无家可归者，尤其是那些患有精神疾病的人卷入刑事司法系统，很大程度上是出于情境因素。本研究的目的是在一个无家可归的严重精神疾病患者样本中，评估童年品行障碍行为作为成人犯罪活动风险因素的患病率，以及成人刑事司法接触的程度和类型。数据取自全国性的ACCESS项目，该项目对7222名无家可归的严重精神疾病成年人进行了广泛的基线访谈。访谈评估了人口统计学特征、犯罪活动的童年风险因素，如品行障碍行为、寄养和父母虐待，以及当前疾病的严重程度和近期的刑事司法接触情况。该样本中的2个月逮捕率远高于全国水平（11%，而普通人群的年逮捕率为1%）。虽然大多数逮捕是因轻微犯罪（10.8%），但也有相当比例的人因重大犯罪（2.7%）和与毒品相关的指控（2.0%）而被捕。有品行障碍行为史的患病率也相当高（男性受试者中为55%，女性受试者中为40%），即使在控制了其他逮捕预测因素之后，品行障碍仍是近期刑事司法介入的有力预测指标（重大犯罪的优势比为1.76，轻微犯罪为1.49，与毒品相关犯罪为1.98）。最近的文献批评了将无家可归的精神疾病患者因试图获取所需食物、住所或医疗护理而定罪的趋势。然而，这些数据表明，该人群中至少有一部分被捕者自青春期早期就一直表现出反社会行为，而且早期反社会行为是该人群近期各类逮捕的有力预测指标。
