Abstract
The author reviews studies that address the question, "Are the mentally ill dangerous?" She points out that as psychiatrists, we have the responsibility of evaluating the mentally ill and making judgments about their dangerousness that may restrict their civil liberties. Therefore, the more practical question for us is: "Which mentally ill, under what circumstances, are dangerous?" She discusses data from her research group and others that show that short-term predictions of violence can be relatively accurate, that we are better at predicting violence for some patients than for others, that specific symptom patterns in the acute phase of illness are related to violent acts, that the most likely victims of violence by decompensating psychiatric patients are caretakers rather than strangers, and that a history of violence, co-morbid substance abuse, and treatment noncompliance are related to a higher risk of violence in psychiatric patients.
