Essay: Exploring the Link Between Mental Illness and Violent Criminal Behavior



Statement of Research

Our society has a large amount of mental illness. Many people live with some form of it and for the most part it is being managed efficiently. However, mental illness tends to be very closely linked with violent criminal behavior. Cases such as the Aurora, CO shooter as well as the Charleston Church shooter are just a few of the infamous cases. Unfortunately, the reality is that we keep seeing cases like these in the news and they don’t seem to be going away. In the two listed instances, both perpetrators were mentally ill, and it is evident that mental illness contributed to these violent outbursts. Mental illness tends to obstruct people’s decision-making skills as well as their anger management skills (Mills et. al). Unfortunately, mental illness is something that tends to be overlooked in criminology. When something is as prominent as mental illness and its combined with the mass incarceration taking place in America, it is important we study the correlation between the two groups. We link criminal behavior to factors such as poverty and greed. For the purpose of this study we are going to look into whether mental illness causes criminal behavior.

Theory

The term “Theory” refers to a rationalization of visible facts and how it tells us about something in the world (lecture notes, 2018).  In this research proposal, we think there is reason to believe that mental illness has a significant impact on individuals’ criminal behavior, or lack thereof. This theory is derived from the inductive model of reasoning. It is easy to tell that the theory comes from the inductive model of reasoning because it is not common knowledge that people who have mental illness immediately display signs of criminal behavior. It is also important to note that not everyone with mental illness is guaranteed to display violent criminal behavior. Research always requires a hypothesis, which is a belief that is backed up by the theory (textbook, 2015). Our hypothesis for this study is mental illness contributes to people having violent criminal behavior. Mental Illness (X)  Violent Criminal Behavior (Y).

Research Design

Research Design is an essential element of the research process. It describes what is being done in the study and to whom it is being done to (textbook, 2015). The research design used for this proposal will be the classic experimental design. It will therefore have independent and dependent variables, a pre and post-test, as well as experimental and control groups. The dependent variable will be Mental Illness (X) and the independent variable will be Violent Criminal Behavior (Y). We will have a pre-test group as well as a post-test group. Our control group will be offenders who have committed violent crimes and our experimental group will look at violent offenders who suffer from mental illness.

The units of analysis are described as the subjects of the study. More specifically, “who” or “what” is being studied. Units of Analysis can be persons, groups of persons, institutions or items (textbook, 2015). For this study the Unit of Analysis will be individuals.

Sample

Samples are subcategories of the populations in which are being studied. They are selected by one or more criteria that best match the study (textbook, 2015). For this study our population is going to prisoners incarcerated at “Prison Z”. The “N” is the size of our sample in the study in the population. In this case, our “N” will be violent offenders in Prison Z. The sampling design that will best suit this proposal is a Simple Random Sample. This will be obtained by getting a random list of offenders and separating the violent from non-violent criminals through the survey we conduct. Anyone incarcerated for violent crimes will be put into this sample and we will be able to gauge our results of who has a history of mental illness and is serving time for a violent crime. The “N” of our sample would be violent offenders with a history of mental illness. The sample element in this study will be prisoner.

Conceptualization

In this theory it is essential we conceptualize the terms of the study. More specifically, anything that could be misunderstood or can hurt our study needs to be brought to light and identified more precisely (textbook, 2015). The IV in this study will be Violent Criminal Behavior, more specifically any prisoner arrested and charged with criminal activity that caused harm to other individuals, or groups. Violent behavior for this study will include murder, robbery, and assault. Meanwhile, the DV will be Mental Illness. Mental Illness can be any kind of disorder related to natural psychological deficiency or illness through substance abuse.

Operationalization

Just as critical as conceptualization is to any study, equally as important is the operationalization. Operationalization is the manner in which we describe how the terms of the study will be measured in the study (textbook, 2015). In terms of the IV (Violent Criminal Behavior), any prisoner arrested for causing harm to other people or groups.  Then the prisoners from will be asked to fill out a survey containing four questions with answers on the ordinal scale. The first will ask prisoners if they are incarcerated for violent crimes. We will then get our sample from asking this question. The next question will ask if there is a history of mental illness in their family. Their options for response will be yes, no, and some. After that a question about the type of violent crime they committed will be administered. The answer choices for this will be murder, robbery, and assault. The final question will be if they have a history with substance abuse to which answer choices will be yes, no, some, and none.

Causal Inference

The first element of Causal Inference is Association. Association is the correlation of the two variables in the study (lecture notes, 2018).  We need to map our results and then see if they are correlated. After we administer the test it will be simple to graph and associate the mental illness with violent criminal behavior. The second element of causal inference is Temporal Order. Temporal Order ensures that XY and not YX (lecture notes, 2018). We are trying to prove that mental illness causes violent criminal behavior and not that violent criminal behavior causes mental illness. It is vital we distinguish these two variables for the sake of the study. If not, then our study will not be effective. The final element of causal inference is non-spuriousness. It means that XY and that it also is not dictated by Z. We are trying to prove that mental illness causes violent criminal behavior and want to ensure that it is not being caused by a third factor. Third factors can cause X and Y to change drastically which would skew our results and as a result we need to ensure that only XY.

Validity

Validity is a vital part of research in that it enables us to get as close as we can in estimating the truthfulness or falseness when we make a claim. If we don’t have validity, our study is not effective at explaining our theory. There are three threats to validity in this proposal and they are as follows.

Internal validity asks if there is any other variable that could affect the study other than X. if a threat has a third variable that influences both X and Y, then there is an issue with Internal Validity. This study does not take into consideration other factors that influence violent criminal behavior. Factors such as education, age and income are not being looked at in this study. We are simply looking at mental illness and how it relates to violent criminal behavior in our sample. Construct Validity helps us determine if there are any issues with conceptualization or operationalization (lecture notes, 2018). The findings of a study must consistently mirror actuality in terms of theory, conceptualization, and operationalization (lecture notes, 2018).

External Validity ensures that the study can be functional to various people, places, or times (lecture notes, 2018). It is important that the study also be replicated in other environments (lecture notes, 2018). With mental illness such a massive part of our society it would be easy to replicate the results in other prisons. Many people are incarcerated in prisons across the country for violent crimes and they display signs of mental illness. The illnesses that cause violent behavior are ever present from prison to prison.

Measures

In this study the IV and DV are mutually exclusive because they can both tracked back into one single characteristic (lecture notes, 2018). By only giving three or four possible answers it means that they are either violent offenders or not. Similarly, they both are also mutually exhaustive as the observations only fit into one characteristic. For this study, reliability was assessed by testing and retesting. From the sample of violent offenders, we will be able to gauge a realistic answer for our theory. Reliability is crucial to a study and we were able to assess it through the testing and retesting method as well as the interrater reliability. After the results of the first survey we would have another individual give the same survey to the sample and then get the answers where they would be compared to the results from the first test. Mental illness in violent offenders has construct validity in that each part of the study connects back to the theory and model we are using (lecture notes, 2018). Each part of the study connected back to the theory and we are able to inference that construct validity is present in the study.

Conclusion and Policy Considerations

With the growing reality of mental illness in this country it is important we study the effects that mental illness can have on violent criminal behavior. With the mass incarceration of people in America, mental illness definitely has an impact on violent criminal behavior. We need to address this issue in order to help those suffering from these illnesses. Incarceration is not the way to end this problem. We, as a society need to take action and help those who don’t know how to help themselves. This study will help bring light to a subject that is often overlooked. If we don’t do studies like these, incidents such as the Aurora, CO shooting others will continue to be on our TV screens.