Comparative study of clinical and criminological characteristics of individuals with organic mental disorders and intellectual disabilities who committed repeated socially dangerous acts

BACKGROUND: The study of crime predictors among mentally ill individuals remains one of the most pressing issues in modern forensic psychiatric prevention. The wide range of nosological entities requires the examination of specific factors influencing criminal behavior in each group. Individuals with intellectual disabilities remain the least studied in this context.

AIM: To identify representative criminological characteristics in patients with organic mental disorders and intellectual disabilities.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Design: Comparative study. A total of 110 patients were examined, including 65 individuals with intellectual disabilities and 45 with organic mental disorders. All subjects had committed two or more offenses, were considered legally insane, and underwent various types of compulsory medical treatment. Data sources included personal questionnaire responses and medical records of the patients. The primary research methods were correlation and comparative analysis.

RESULTS: Certain characteristics showed positive correlations with the likelihood of committing a repeated socially dangerous act, including the absence of a criminal history before initial compulsory treatment (r=+0.36, p_i <0.01), age at first socially dangerous act between 15–19 years (r=+0.24, p_i <0.01), duration of initial compulsory treatment of more than two years (r=+0.23, p_i <0.01), and multiple (three or more) psychiatric hospitalizations after the completion of initial compulsory treatment (r=+0.34, p_i <0.01). Conversely, some characteristics had negative correlations with the likelihood of repeated socially dangerous acts, including a history of multiple criminal offenses before initial compulsory treatment (r=−0.36, p_i <0.01), age at first socially dangerous act between 30–40 years (r=−0.22, p_i <0.01), duration of initial compulsory treatment of less than one year (r=−0.73, p_i <0.01), and the absence of psychiatric hospitalizations following the completion of initial compulsory treatment (r=−0.37, p_i <0.01). A history of property crimes, as well as criminal offences against life and health, was positively correlated with committing a similar type of offense during the first socially dangerous act (r=+0.38, p_i <0.05 and r=+0.32, p_i<0.05, respectively).

CONCLUSION: The study results may serve as a foundation for developing practical recommendations and forensic psychiatric prevention tools for patients with intellectual disabilities.