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Psychiatric aspects of contempt of court among women

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

P. T. d'Orbán
P. T. d'Orbán*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Royal Free Hospital, London
*
1Address for correspondence: Dr P.T. d'Orbán, Academic Department of I'sychiatry, Royal Free Hospital Pond Street, London NW3 2QG.
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Synopsis

The case histories of 72 women admitted to prison for contempt of court in 1979–83 were reviewed. The sample included 45% of all women imprisoned for contempt in England and Wales over the 5-year period. The contemnors were significantly older than other sentenced prisoners, one third were foreign born and 37–5% were suffering from psychiatric disorder. Two thirds of the mentally disordered group had a paranoid disorder, litigiousness was a prominent feature of their illness, and 52% committed contempt in the context of a matrimonial dispute or a dispute with neighbours. Recent legislation may help to prevent the imprisonment of mentally ill contemnors.

Type
Research Article
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 15 , Issue 3 , August 1985 , pp. 597 - 607
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1985

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References

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