Citation

Mouridsen SE, Rich B, Isager T, Nedergaard NJ. Int. J. Offender Ther. Comp. Criminol. 2008; 52(2): 196-205.

Affiliation

Bispebjerg University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark. sem01@bbh.hosp.dk

Copyright

(Copyright © 2008, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/0306624X07302056

PMID

17615427

Abstract

The prevalence and pattern of criminal behaviour in a population of 313 former child psychiatric in-patients with pervasive developmental disorders were studied. The patients were divided into three subgroups and compared with 933 matched controls from the general population. Age at follow-up was between 25 years and 59 years. An account of convictions in the nationwide Danish Register of Criminality was used as a measure of criminal behaviour. Among 113 cases with childhood autism, .9% had been convicted. In atypical autism (n=86) and Asperger's syndrome (n=114) the percentages were 8.1% and 18.4%, respectively. The corresponding rate of convictions in the comparison groups was 18.9%, 14.7%, and 19.6% respectively. Particular attention is given to arson in Asperger's syndrome (p= .0009).

Language: en