ABSTRACT
The subject of mental disorder and crime is usually to be found as an autonomous and rather isolated topic in criminology textbooks and courses. It often appears as though the subject is quite separate from the main concerns of criminological theorising. Questions are raised about the particular problems caused by those apparently unusual individuals who suffer from mental disorders and also commit crime. It will be argued here, like Peay (1997), that the topic needs to be integrated within mainstream criminology, as it raises issues of quite fundamental importance. Two important matters can be considered:
• First, the complex question of how individual responsibility for criminal acts can be judged can be traced in debates about what mental disorders should be recognised as being likely to lead to criminal behaviour (and the individual be treated with some ‘leniency’).
