Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Multicenter Study
. 2014 Mar 7;9(3):e91029.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0091029. eCollection 2014.

Criminal victimisation in people with severe mental illness: a multi-site prevalence and incidence survey in the Netherlands

Astrid M Kamperman  1 , Jens Henrichs  2 , Stefan Bogaerts  3 , Emmanuel M E H Lesaffre  4 , André I Wierdsma  1 , Razia R R Ghauharali  5 , Wilma Swildens  6 , Yolanda Nijssen  7 , Mark van der Gaag  8 , Jan R Theunissen  9 , Philippe A Delespaul  10 , Jaap van Weeghel  11 , Jooske T van Busschbach  12 , Hans Kroon  13 , Linda A Teplin  14 , Dike van de Mheen  15 , Cornelis L Mulder  16
Affiliations
Multicenter Study

Criminal victimisation in people with severe mental illness: a multi-site prevalence and incidence survey in the Netherlands

Astrid M Kamperman et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Background: Although crime victimisation is as prevalent in psychiatric patients as crime perpetration (and possibly more so), few European figures for it are available. We therefore assessed its one-year prevalence and incident rates in Dutch severely mentally ill outpatients, and compared the results with victimisation rates in the general population.

Method: This multisite epidemiological survey included a random sample of 956 adult severely mentally ill outpatients. Data on victimisation were obtained using the victimisation scale of the Dutch Crime and Victimisation Survey, which assesses crime victimisation over the preceding 12 months. Comparison data were derived from the nationwide survey on safety and victimisation in the Netherlands. Prevalence and incident rates were weighted for sex, age, ethnicity and socioeconomic status, and compared with a general population sample matched by region (N = 38,227).

Results: In the past year, almost half of the severely mentally ill outpatients (47%) had been victim of a crime. After control for demographic differences, prevalence rates of overall and specific victimisation measures were significantly higher in severely mentally ill outpatients than in the general population. The relative rates were especially high for personal crimes such as violent threats (RR = 2.12, 95% CI: 1.72-2.61), physical assaults (RR = 4.85, 95% CI: 3.69-6.39) and sexual harassment and assaults (RR = 3.94, 95% CI: 3.05-5.09). In concordance, severely mentally ill outpatients reported almost 14 times more personal crime incidents than persons from the general population (IRR = 13.68, 95% CI: 12.85-14.56).

Conclusion: Crime victimisation is a serious problem in Dutch severely mentally ill outpatients. Mental-healthcare institutions and clinicians should become aware of their patients' victimisation risk, and should implement structural measures to detect and prevent (re-)victimisation.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Data-acquisition flowchart.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Choe JY, Teplin LA, Abram KM (2008) Perpetration of violence, violent victimization, and severe mental illness: balancing public health concerns. Psychiatr Serv 59: 153–164. - PMC - PubMed
    1. de Vries S, Kamperman A, Lako I, Sytema S, Bervoets P, et al. (2011) Geweld tegen psychiatrische patiënten in Nederland [Violence against psychiatric patients in The Netherlands]. Maandblad Geestelijke Volksgezondheid 66: 8–19.
    1. Arseneault L, Moffitt TE, Caspi A, Taylor PJ, Silva PA (2000) Mental disorders and violence in a total birth cohort: results from the Dunedin Study. Arch Gen Psychiatry 57: 979–986. - PubMed
    1. Thornicroft G (2006) Shunned: discrimination against people with mental illness. Oxford, U.K.: Oxford University Press. 301 p.
    1. Steadman HJ, Mulvey EP, Monahan J, Robbins PC, Appelbaum PS, et al. (1998) Violence by people discharged from acute psychiatric inpatient facilities and by others in the same neighborhoods. Arch Gen Psychiatry 55: 393–401. - PubMed

Publication types