Incidence of Mentally Abnormal Offenders (From Forensic Psychiatric Patient in Texas - Historical Perspective and Normative Research on Dangerousness, Appendix 4, 1980 - See NCJ-85168)

• NCJ Number: 85172
• Author(s): E M Craig
• Date Published: 1980
• Length: 13 pages
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/
• Publication Type: Statistics
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Available on microfiche as NCJ-85168

Annotation

This report presents the assumptions and the results of an estimate of mentally abnormal criminal offenders (MACO's) in Texas, using 1974 Uniform Crime Reports data.

Abstract

In this study, 'incidence' is defined as the number of 'mentally abnormal' persons who commit one or more significant crime(s) in a given year. Mentally ill and mentally retarded offenders comprise the MACO group. Assumptions of the incidence estimates are that (1) the MACO group includes about 15 percent of the general population; (2) mentally ill persons have a crime rate commensurate with that of the general population; (3) persons with IQ's in the retarded range (below 70) are disproportionately represented in crime statistics; and (4) a conservative estimate of the incidence of the MACO group can be based on the number of reported index crimes. The estimate of the incidence of MACO's in Texas in 1974 is about 113,000, evenly divided between the mentally ill and the mentally retarded offenders. There are indications that about 80 percent involved are not apprehended. Of the 24,000 apprehended, dispositions include acquittal or dismissal of the charges, commitment to a psychiatric facility, or incarceration in a correctional facility. Twenty-one references are listed.