A comparison of inpatients in an urban state hospital in 1975 and 1982.

To investigate whether there had been a rise in admissions of young, chronic, antisocial patients at a state psychiatric hospital in New York City, the authors compared 50 patients admitted in 1975 and 49 admitted in 1982 on demographic characteristics, inpatient history, and history of antisocial behavior in the community and during the hospitalization. The cohorts had comparable demographic characteristics, lengths of stay, and overall histories of antisocial behavior. However, the percentages of patients who committed assault and had encounters with the criminal justice system while living in the community were significantly higher in the 1982 cohort, as was the proportion of men who engaged in antisocial behavior in the community. The incidence of episodes of violence and of seclusion and restraint during hospitalization was significantly higher among the 1982 cohort but was not related to antisocial behavior in the community or age. The authors conclude that urban state psychiatric hospitals may have experienced a rise in admissions of antisocial patients but that current data do not explain why.