Prevalence, Pattern and Factors Associated with Psychiatric Disorders among Persons Arrested for Violent Crimes in Ife/Modakeke Area, Southwestern Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Association between violence and mental disorders has contributed immensely to the stigma associated with mental illness in the society; because people erroneously see mentally ill individuals as dangerous, they will not want to associate with them. Aims: To assess the prevalence and pattern of psychiatric disorders among a sample of the violent offenders and to examine any relationship between psychiatric disorders and crimes. Method: This was a two-phase cross-sectional study in three police stations in Ile-Ife/Modakeke area of Nigeria. In the first phase, we screened 400 consecutive adults arrested for violent crimes using the General Health Questionnaire—30. In the second phase, all 36 persons with probable psychopathology were then interviewed with the Present State Examination to make a definitive diagnosis. Results: The mean age of all the subjects was 29.9 years (SD ± 7.3). The male to female ratio was 11:1. Respondents were mostly single (54%); most had secondary education or less (82%) and about 60% were currently using psychoactive substances (drugs). About 8.5% of all the subjects had a diagnosable psychiatric disorder; paranoid schizophrenia was the commonest psychiatric disorder (41.2%). Mentally ill subjects were three times more likely to commit homicidal offence than non-mentally ill subjects. Conclusion: There exists a significant but weak relationship between mental illness and violent crimes.