Abstract
Background: Female prisoners are associated with high percentage of psychiatric disorders. Majority of the studies done are for male prisoners. Studies on female prisoners are mostly from western countries and studies in India are very limited.
Aim: To evaluate the socio-demographic profile, crime pattern and psychiatric morbidity in female prisoners.
Materials and Methods: The data of 44 Female prisoners referred to Institute of Mental Health Chennai from 2001 to 2016 were assessed. Data was obtained from the case records.
Results: The mean age of female prisoners was 36.4. 79.5% were Hindus, 75% were from rural area, 34.1% were illiterate, 67.4% were married, 54.5% were unskilled workers, 72.7% were in the lower/upper lower socio economic status. The crime pattern was 70.5% were murderers, 5% were related to kidnapping, use of dangerous weapons, 4.5% were related to theft. Among the psychiatric disorders, 36.3% had depression, 29.5% had schizophrenia, 9.1% had bipolar disorder, 13.6% had other psychosis. In case of murder, the common victims were family members, (70.6%) of which 45.8% were kids. 50% female prisoners had been suffering from psychiatric illness before being referred to Institute of Mental Health as prisoners.
Conclusion: The results suggest that there is high prevalence of psychiatric co-morbidity in female prisoners which pose a serious challenge to the psychiatrists and policy makers.
Keywords: Female prisoners, crime pattern, psychiatric morbidity.
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DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.18535/jmscr/v5i6.09
