Homicide and community-based psychiatry

The authors studied the records of all persons convicted of homicide or found not guilty by reason of insanity during the uears 1963 through 1975, 6 years before and after the opening of the community-based psychiatric facility, in Albany County, New York. Using the Fisher Exact Probability Test, a statistically significant increase was found for those found not guilty by reason of insanity (p = .041) and those with a history of mental illness found guilty (p = .036). Other factors, including age of the perpetrator, use of alcohol, and relationship to the victim, were also examined. The authors caution against sweeping indictments of community-based psychiatry and urge that the study be repeated elsewhere.