189 letters written by consultants at Broadmoor Hospital about patients whom they had seen at the request of the Department of Health and Social Security, regarding suitability for admission, were studied for the presence or absence of comments about various aspects of the patients' social, criminal and psychiatric histories and current mental states. Social and psychiatric histories were similar for those who were accepted and rejected. A history of previous violence or of sexual violence was more common in the accepted group. Major differences were found in the current mental states described for the two groups of patients.
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