The Role of Inattention in the Relationship between Mental Illness and Crime

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between attention problems and criminality in forensic patients and determine whether such problems differentiate forensic from non-forensic psychiatric patients in degree or type of impairment. Thirty-six participants were recruited from inpatient mental health programs. Participants were administered the Conner's Continuous Performance Test II and completed the World Health Organization Adult ADHD [attention deficit hyperactivity disorder] Self-Report Scale Symptom Checklist. Although no significant correlation was found between the measures of attention problems and criminality, inattention was found to be overrepresented in the forensic mental health patients compared to the base rate in the general population.