ABSTRACT
Understanding criminal behavior often demands expert knowledge about mental health disorders, because some mental health disorders are part of the driving force behind some criminal behavior. The development of mental health disorders is strongly associated with early life risk factors, particularly including negative family experiences (e.g., abuse and neglect, exposure to domestic violence, a parent with mental illness, having an incarcerated parent). Relatedly, criminal behavior in adolescence can result from brain immaturity; however, there are limitations to the immature-brain way of explaining criminal behavior. The fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) is particularly helpful as a way of developing a macro view of the mental disorders with the most relevance to criminal behavior. These disorders can be categorized as cognitive (e.g., neurodevelopmental, injury-related, or neurodegenerative), emotional (e.g., psychosis, severe depression, mania), or substance-related. This chapter explores these issues in greater detail.
