We can look at this from two different perspectives.
On the one hand, we can hypothesize that being a victim of crime can cause mental health problems. I found a study by Karen Freeman and Nadine Smith - "Understanding the relationship between crime victimization and mental health: A longitudinal analysis of population data becoming a victim of violent crime results in a decrease in mental health" that concludes that becoming a victim of violent crime results in a decrease in mental health. It also found that females had a more pronounced decline in mental health after becoming a victim of violence compared with males. Interestingly, becoming a victim of property crime didn't have a detectable impact on mental health.
On the other hand, the popular belief is that people with mental illness are more prone to commit acts of violence and aggression. But the truth is that a large body of data suggests otherwise. People with mental illness are more likely to be victims of violent crime than commit one. We can even argue that this unfortunate bias sometimes even extends to the criminal justice system.
We can look at this from two different perspectives.
On the one hand, we can hypothesize that being a victim of crime can cause mental health problems. I found a study by Karen Freeman and Nadine Smith - "Understanding the relationship between crime victimization and mental health: A longitudinal analysis of population data becoming a victim of violent crime results in a decrease in mental health" that concludes that becoming a victim of violent crime results in a decrease in mental health. It also found that females had a more pronounced decline in mental health after becoming a victim of violence compared with males. Interestingly, becoming a victim of property crime didn't have a detectable impact on mental health.
On the other hand, the popular belief is that people with mental illness are more prone to commit acts of violence and aggression. But the truth is that a large body of data suggests otherwise. People with mental illness are more likely to be victims of violent crime than commit one. We can even argue that this unfortunate bias sometimes even extends to the criminal justice system.