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In recent decades, the social and legal perception of people with mental disorders who commit crimes has changed. Initially, people with mental disorders were considered dangerous. However, since the late 20th century, the paradigm has shifted at both social and legal levels, with people experiencing mental disorders often considered victims themselves, despite having committed intentional crimes.

In this new context, a team of researchers from the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) has analyzed homicides committed in Spain to characterize those perpetrated by people with mental disorders and study the factors that determine who the victims are and the compensation awarded in legal proceedings. Their research is published in the Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine.

"The noble aim of avoiding stigmatizing people with mental disorders as dangerous can contribute to overlooking the serious situation of those who are victims of this violence or face a greater risk of victimization," explained Josep Maria Tamarit, a professor of criminal law at the UOC and coordinator of the Empirical and Applied Victimology research group (VICRIM). He coordinated this research together with professors Laura Arantegui and Alba Marsol, who are part of the same group. All three teach in the Faculty of Law and Political Science.

As part of the study, the researchers from the Digital Transformation and Governance Research Center (UOC-DIGIT) reviewed more than 2,500 homicide cases tried in Spanish courts.

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