NCJ Number
212259
Journal
Legal and Criminological Psychology Volume: 10 Issue: 2 Dated: September 2005 Pages: 279-290
Date Published
September 2005
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This British study compared crimes against mentally ill patients living in the community with crimes against students with a high risk of criminal victization due to their lifestyles.
Abstract
Samples of 40 mentally ill patients and 80 university students reported on any criminal victimizations they had experienced in the previous 12 months. Their attitudes toward police were also measured. Fifty percent of the mentally ill patients and 38.75 percent of the students reported being victimized at least once. Of the mentally ill patients, 32.5 percent reported repeat victimizations compared with 18.75 percent of the students. Nine (22.5 percent) of the mentally ill patients had been victimized more than four times in the previous 12 months, compared with 5 percent of the students. Of the repeat-victim students, 13.75 percent had been victimized by friends or partners; 51.25 percent were victimized by strangers; and 5.08 percent had been victimized by people they knew by sight. None had been victimized by a family member. Of the mentally ill repeat-victims, 22.5 percent were victimized by family members, 20 percent by friends or partners, 32.5 percent by strangers, and 17.5 percent by people they knew by sight. Female mentally ill patients reported the highest levels of victimization. Mentally ill patients held more negative opinions of the police. Given the higher levels of victimization for mentally ill persons living in the community, the discussion focuses on their support networks and interactions with the police. 1 figure and 32 references