Reading Time: 12 minutes In the 1930’s, Penrose conducted a sociological investigation comparing statistics relating to crime and mental disorder in various European countries. Penrose discussed a number of possible conclusions that could be drawn form his data, but two that showed noticeable statistical significance were as follows: in countries with better provision of hospital beds for the mentally disordered the prison population tended to be lower and in these countries the number of deaths attributable to homicide also tended to be lower.
These findings will be used as a springboard to discuss the dilemma of whether the most appropriate method of addressing the social problem of mentally disordered people who unlawfully kill others is penal or therapeutic disposal- that is whether the emphasis of the sentence should be on punishment or treatment.