Outline The Relationship Between Mental Illness And Crime

Outlining the research paper

Is there a relationship between mental illness and crime?

Thesis: Individuals with untreated mental illnesses are more likely to commit a crime than a person without mental disability.

With the media showcasing recent events of crimes, such as the mass shooting where a young man by the name of Dylann Roof, opened fire in a historic African Methodist church in Charleston, South Carolina on June 17, 2015. Killing 9 people including the pastor. The case went nationwide as it was discovered by a court-appointed psychiatrist that Dylann Roof had a host of mental disorders and that several months before the incident, Roof had described himself as deeply depressed (Devon M. from CNN). Society has inexplicably shown

Substance abuse disorders have been proven to drastically increase the occurrence of violent incidents. Addiction, as not many would know, is also a mental illness that leads to substance abuse. When a patient suffers from a mental illness and addiction, they are 240% more likely to commit a crime than a person who suffers from mental illnesses without substance abuse or addiction (Sansone). Ted Bundy, an infamous killer and necrophyte confessed to 30 murders in the 1970s. Jeffrey Dahmer, who is also known as the “Milwaukee Cannibal”, killed 17 boys and men between 1978 and 1991 was diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder. He also struggled with heavy alcohol abuse (Forensics Colleges).
Many people who suffer from mental illnesses are born with them, but to a small amount of people who suffer with mental disabilities, their mental illnesses was caused by an event in their past that may have caused their behavior to become violent. For example, sexual abuse during childhood has been known to be a general contributory factor to the development of borderline personality disorder in adulthood that can lead to violence (Sansone). A person who suffered from sexual abuse in the past might deal with it in numerous different ways, such as committing the same crime that was committed against them, like sexual assaulting other people. Another event that can cause a mental illness in a person

That is to say that not all people who commit crimes have mental disorders, because it has been proven that there are people out there who are mentally healthy and still act violently, take for example Al Capone who was never diagnosed of a mental disorder yet he committed multiple crimes. Substance abuse also play a role in the committing of crimes, but it could also be argued that those who part-take in substance abuse suffer from addiction which is also classified as a mental illness. Same goes for those who are addicted to substances and abuse it. Those who suffer from mental illnesses AND addiction are 10 times more likely to commit crimes than a person who isn’t addicted. Mental illnesses although born with, can also be caused by a past event that affects the patient in adulthood, such as sexual abuse or domestic violence during childhood. The image of people suffering from mental illnesses is depicted in a weirdly accurate but raw way. From the images of serial killers on TV shows people who watch them see their behavior and learn from it, causing the image of people with mental disorders to be in different