Dangerousness-Arrest Rate Comparisons of Discharged Patients and the General Population

The incidence of arrest for 2 Maryland psychiatric populations, 1947 and 1957, were obtained for the 5 years preceding and following their discharge from psychiatric hospitals. Comparison of their arrest rates with that of the general population indicates that for some serious offenses the psychiatric population has a higher arrest rate than the general population. Comparison of pre- and post-hospitalization arrest rates were made and revealed no differences, nor did a comparison of the arrest rates of the two populations reveal any changes that might reflect the use of the newer treatment techniques. An appendix of 4 tables has been added. Tables 1 and 2 show the relationship of our arrest rates to those of the general population. Tables 3 and 4 show the incidence of recidivism of our populations.