Abstract
The importance of criminal recidivism among mentally ill offenders lies in resource allocation and community services for the mentally ill. It has been suggested that jails are used, in part, simply to house the mentally ill. The objective of this study is to determine whether mentally ill criminal offenders have higher rates of rearrest than non-mentally ill offenders. A sample of mentally ill offenders (n = 127) was drawn at random from all admissions to the psychiatric unit at the King County Jail in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. They were compared with a sample (n = 127) of non-mentally ill offenders also jailed in King County during 1990; the two groups were frequency matched on age, gender, and crime at index arrest. Both groups were followed for up to four years to until the next arrest. After 12 months, 54.3 percent of the mentally ill group and 51.2 percent of the non-mentally ill group were rearrested. Using the log rank test in Kaplan-Meier survival analysis, no statistical difference in the relative risk of rearrest occurred for the mentally ill group (relative risk = .84; 95% CI = .84-1.34). Adjustment for housing, marital status, and previous criminal history had little effect on this finding. The presence of substance abuse or psychosis at the index arrest did not affect rearrest significantly. Mentally ill offenders, as a whole, may not be at increased risk for rearrest. However, there may be specific high-risk subgroups that can benefit from early intervention.
