Prevalence of Mental Disorders and Recidivism in Young Offenders

Several studies report that incarcerated young offenders show a high rate of psychiatric disorders whereas associations between specific psychiatric disorders and recidivism remain unknown. The Brazilian legal system has created a unique opportunity for the study of this issue when consider young of...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Dias, Alvaro Machado [UNIFESP], Serafim, Antonio De Pádua, Barros, Daniel Martins De
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2014
País:Brasil
Institución:Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP)
Repositorio:Repositório Institucional da UNIFESP
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:repositorio.unifesp.br:11600/8142
Acceso en línea:http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1678-7153.201427212
http://repositorio.unifesp.br/handle/11600/8142
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Young offenders
psychiatric disorders
recidivism
psychiatric epidemiology
Jovens infratores
transtornos psiquiátricos
reincidência
epidemiologia psiquiátrica
Descripción
Sumario:Several studies report that incarcerated young offenders show a high rate of psychiatric disorders whereas associations between specific psychiatric disorders and recidivism remain unknown. The Brazilian legal system has created a unique opportunity for the study of this issue when consider young offenders not that guilty in spite of the severity of the crime, settling in three years the maximum period of incarceration. This study aims to determine the rate of psychiatric disorders in a cohort of incarcerated young offenders and evaluate the possible psychiatric connections of primary offenders and recidivism. A group of 898 incarcerated young offenders at Fundação Casa answered psychiatric interviews and was diagnosed according to the criteria of ICD-10. Statistic connections were analyzed using the tests of Pearson and Cramer. The cohort was comprised of 619 primaries and 267 recidivists. 'Psychoactive Substance Use' and 'Disorders of Adult Personality and Behavior' categories were related to recidivism, whereas 'Organic Mental Disorders', 'Mood Disorders', and 'Stress-related Disorders' were related to primary offenders. Discriminating disorders were the most likely to represent reactions to primary incarceration. In relation to associations that might represent predictors of crime, it became highly suggestive that substance abuse is the main cause of incarceration for the entire cohort.