Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-45l2p Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-28T17:41:37.468Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

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.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

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

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

British Medical Journal (1982). Legal Correspondent: Contempt of court; 285, 657–658.Google Scholar
Daniel, A. E., Harris, P. W. & Husain, S. A. (1981). Differences between midlife female offenders and those younger than 40. American Journal of Psychiatry 138, 1225–1228.Google ScholarPubMed
Enoch, M. D. & Trethowan, W. H. (1979). Uncommon Psychiatric Syndromes. John Wright & Sons: Bristol.Google Scholar
Gibbens, T. C. N., Goodman, N., Dell, S. & Prince, J. (1971). A medical survey of women received into Holloway Prison during 1967. Unpublished.Google Scholar
Hailsham, Lord (1974). Halsbury's Laws of England (4th edn), Vol. 9, pp. 1–74. Butterworth: London.Google Scholar
Haslam, M. T. (1981). Obstacles and rivals. Bulletin of The Royal College of Psychiatrists 5, 148.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Home Office (Annual Reports, 1977–1983). Prison Statistics. England and Wales. HMSO: London.Google Scholar
Imlah, N. W. (1981). An obstacle to hospital treatment. Bulletin of The Royal College of Psychiatrists 5, 72–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nicol, A. & Rogers, H. (1981). Changing Contempt of Court. National Council for Civil Liberties: London.Google Scholar
Taylor, P., Mahendra, B. & Gunn, J. (1983). Erotomania in males. Psychological Medicine 13, 645–650.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Timbury, G. C. (1982). Social workers and compulsory admission. Bulletin of The Royal College of Psychiatrists 6, 15–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
World Health Organization (1978). Mental Disorders: Glossary and Guide of Their Classification in Accordance with the Ninth Revision of the International Classification of Diseases. WHO: Geneva.Google Scholar