The Moderating Effects of ASPD on the Relationship between Serious Mental Illness and Prison Infractions

• In Event: Poster Session

Abstract

Inmates with serious mental illness (SMI) tend to have higher rates of disciplinary infractions than inmates without mental illness. However, research has also highlighted the importance of personality disorders when attempting to predict risk of violence in civil and forensic populations. Using a disproportionate random sample of 403 New Jersey prison inmates (198 with SMI and 205 without SMI), I assessed the relationships among SMI and types of disciplinary infractions as well as the potential moderating effect of an antisocial personality disorder (ASPDO) on these relationships. Bivariate tests indicated that, in addition to a higher proportion presenting with ASPDO, inmates with SMI had a higher average annual rate of violent misconduct than those without SMI. In multivariable tests SMI was significantly related to annual rate of violent charges, marginally related to serious nonviolent charges and unrelated to non-serious nonviolent charges while incarcerated. The presence of a personality disorder moderated the relationship between SMI and serious nonviolent charges but not the relationship between SMI and other charges. Findings suggest that the relationship between SMI and serious nonviolent misconduct is positive in the absence of ASPDO and negative among those dually diagnosed with ASPDO and SMI. Implications of findings are discussed.

Author

• Jason Matejkowski, University of Kansas