Article Summary Assignment

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Summary of the Article

This article is named “The link between mental health, crime and violence.” It aims to investigate the connection between mental health, crime, and violence. From the article, the link between these elements relies on populations that are at a high risk of criminal and criminal behavior, such as psychiatric patients and prison inmates. The writing of this writing asserts that the link between mental wellbeing, criminal, and violent behaviors is significantly overestimated, with psychological wellbeing being incorrectly related to violent and criminal behaviors. The connection between psychological illness and criminality continues to be the topic of intense debate and scrutiny in the latest past in light of numerous mass shootings in the United States (Halle et al., 2020). Whereas the media and renewed focus attention on the significance of mental health in the outcome of such tragedies is a positive development, the link between mental disorder and criminality is too every so often conflated. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between psychological wellbeing, violence, and crime in a more representative community-based sample.

This study’s participants were one hundred and twenty individuals who had and those who did not have a mental health disorder. They reported their participation in crime and completed an aggression questionnaire. The common belief is that individuals with mental illness are more prone to do actions of aggression and violence (Halle et al., 2020). The public insight of psychiatric patients as dangerous persons is normally deep-rooted in the representation of lawbreakers in the mass media as “crazy” persons. Major factors of violence continue to be economical and socio-demographic factors. Drug abuse is a leading determinant of violence, and this is factual whether it happens in the setting of a concurrent mental illness or not. As a result, early identification and treatment of drug abuse problems, and greater attention to the diagnosis and management of concurrent substance abuse disorders among seriously mentally ill, maybe potential violence prevention strategies.

This study’s results or findings suggest that certain mental health illnesses do not strongly contribute to crime, violence, and involvement. This article points out that most mental illnesses are not connected to violence for policy legislators and makers, with a number of exceptions such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, and normally only in combination with drugs use. The article emphasizes that behavior disorder in adolescence or late childhood is a good predictor of violence than is a mental disorder at a later age. Empirically grounded screening methods to recognize persons with psychological wellbeing complications prone to violence seem to have limited utility. However, untreated mental illness can cause severe emotional, physical, and health complications. Problems sometimes connected to the mental disorder include family conflicts, unhappiness, and decreased enjoyment of life. A lot of criminals with mental illnesses don’t get treatment during confinement. Devoid of treatment, illnesses can deteriorate. Criminals can turn out to be a greater threat to themselves and others when they leave prison or jail. Individuals with any severe psychological ailment are likely to have a history of violence compared with individuals devoid of severe psychological ailment, consistent with other research.

It is evident that the authors’ conclusions follow logically from the results reported. The future research which can be suggested based on conclusion is the steps taken to help the criminals who have mental problems.

Reference

Halle, C., Tzani-Pepelasi, C., Pylarinou, N. R., & Fumagalli, A. (2020). The link between mental health, crime and violence. New Ideas in Psychology, 58, 100779.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.newideapsych.2020.100779