Psychiatric illness, maladjustment and juvenile delinquency: an ecological study in a London borough

Patterns of adult psychiatric referral, of child guidance referral and of juvenile delinquency in a metropolitan borough were examined. The 3 sets of rates showed parallel trends among the 20 electoral wards of the borough, all 3 being similarly related to socio-demographic indices. A cluster analysis technique was used to combine the 450 enumeration districts of the borough into 22 clusters defined by social characteristics rather than by geographical boundaries. Ecological correlates of treated psychiatric disorder and of delinquency, based on these clusters, were found to be similar to those derived from the electoral ward data. The findings suggest that it may be possible to demarcate relatively small urban areas with high concentrations of psychiatric disorder, maladjustment and delinquency.