The Relation of Psychosis, Mental Defect and Personality Types to Crime

This paper presents the findings resulting from the study of 9958 prisoners, conducted in the Psychiatric Clinic of the Court of General Sessions3 for the past four years. All prisoners4 who have pleaded guilty or who have been convicted in this Court, are examined in the Clinic. The function of the Clinic is to select the psychotic and mentally defective individuals among the prisoners and, in addition, to attempt an investigation of the prisoners and the environmental and dynamic factors underlying their criminal conduct. Every prisoner is given a specially adapted psychiatric examination, together with physical and neurological examinations. Special cases are interviewed on several occasions and in staff conferences. Wherever hospital observation or laboratory testing is indicated, the prisoner is referred to the Bellevue Psychiatric Hospital, with which the Clinic is in