The Relation between the Type of Crime Committed and the Mental Health Status of the Female Prisoners in Urmia

Background: The mental health of female prisoners as a high-risk group isvery important. Evaluating their health needs has been neglected in mostsocieties. The purpose of this research is to evaluate the relation between thetype of crime committed and the mental health status of the female prisonersin Urmia province, Iran.Methods: This descriptive-analytical study was conducted on 150 femaleprisoners in 2016. The standard questionnaire of general health with 28questions and also a questionnaire including demographic information, thetype of crime, and the conviction period were used in order to evaluate themental health status. The collected information was analysed through SPSS16and by using Chi-square test, Fisher’s exact test and one-way ANOVA.Results: The results showed that 74% of the female prisoners were suspectedto have mental disorder and the least of it was depression with 20.4 per centbeing affected by it and the most severe mental disorder pertaining to socialfunction with 78% being affected. Also, the prisoner who had committedmurder or had been accomplices for murder, and those sentenced to death hadthe worst mental health. The statistical relation between mental health and thetype of crime and the length of the sentence was significant and the odds ratioof mental disorders among women who were sentenced for murder and forbeing accomplices to murder was 2.4 times that of women who wereconvicted for crimes related to drugs.Conclusion: Considering the poor mental health of female prisoners and itsrelationship with the severity of the crime and the conviction period, it isnecessary to make policies to promote mental health in prisoners in order topromote the other aspects of prisoners’ health and also to prevent therecurrence of crime after the discharge from prison.

Keywords:

Mental Health , Female Prisoners , Type of Crime