Crime and mental illness in New Zealand women

Abstract

In 1961, there were 112 women in prison and borstal, and 5,036 women in mental hospital. The ratio of women to men in prison and borstal was 1 in 17, whereas in mental hospital the ratio was nearer 1 to 1. The actual number of women prisoners was 45. Nineteen sixty-four figures are similar, supporting the same trends. Mental illness and crime can be regarded as representing breakdowns in adjustment or control. "A mature or mentally healthy person is prepared for the 'average expectable environmental situations' and the 'average expectable internal conflict' (Hartman, 1958), that are appropriate to the particular stage of the life cycle that he has reached (Erikson, 1959). Mental illness, behaviour disorder, or delinquency often arise when environmental situations or internal conflicts at a particular time are too great for an individual to bear." TAYLOR, A.J.W. An Evaluation of Group Psychotherapy in a Borstal: The Arohata Project, Victoria University of Wellington, 1966.