| Abstract [eng] |
Introduction. Schizophrenia is a chronic psychotic disorder. Patients with this disease are often stigmatised and believed to be prone to crime. The link between crime and mental illness is more often associated with diagnosis than with psychosocial circumstances. Aims. To present the peculiarities of the criminal behaviour and crimes committed by patients with schizophrenia, as well as the biopsychosocial factors affecting their criminality, based on scientific publications. Methods. A search for scientific publications was performed in the databases PubMed, The Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar, using keywords in English and Lithuanian. To ensure the quality and impartiality of the work, elements of systematic literature reviews were also used. Results. 69 scientific publications were reviewed in the narrative literature review. The scientific literature on the topic of crimes committed by patients with schizophrenia is extensive and includes methodologically different studies. Many authors associate schizophrenia only with violent crimes. The publications examined in this narrative literature review support a statistically significant association between schizophrenia and crime, but this link depends on other risk factors and does not show a strong positive correlation. Conclusions. Arson and violent crimes against family, especially homicide, usually committed by stabbing, are the most associated with schizophrenia. Non-violent crimes such as property crimes and possession of illegal drugs are also typical. Criminality also depends on comorbidity with personality disorders, abuse of psychoactive substances, and other social factors. The crime rate of patients with schizophrenia does not significantly affect the overall crime rate of the population. |
