Introduction: Mental disorder is a general term used for describing a wide range of psychiatric disorders which compromise a person’s ability for thinking, feeling and functioning properly in society. Mental disorder is a behavioral or psychological syndrome or pattern that appears in an individual and can bring hardship and disability with it, and he/she is usually reviewed as bizarre or annoying by other people. These disorders can manifest themselves as extreme rage, resentment, fear and confusion. Some mental disorders can easily affect professional and social life of the patient and leave him/her incapacitated. There is a relationship between mental disorders and emotions; emotions play a major role in the emergence of dysfunctional behaviors or mental disorders. Emotional dysregulation can threaten mental and psychological health of a person. The aim of the present study is assessing the relationship between mental disorders, emotional intelligence and criminal thinking (A case study of prisoners incarcerated in Yazd province).

Methods: This is a correlational research. Statistical population was the whole prisoners incarcerated in Yazd province in 2019. Sample size was 147 prisoners whom were chosen via stratified-random sampling method. For research tools we used questionnaires presented in the following texts: Wong and Law emotional intelligence scale, symptom checklist (SCL-25) and Knight et al. an assessment for criminal thinking were uses. Statistical analysis was carried out using SPSS ver. 22 and Smart PLS. Pearson correlation coefficient, regression and path analysis tests were performed.

Results: A negative correlation was found between emotional intelligence and mental disorders. A positive correlation was calculated between mental disorders and criminal thinking, and finally a negative correlation was found between emotional intelligence and criminal thinking. Emotional thinking was found to be an important mediator variable between mental disorders and criminal thinking.

Conclusion: Based on the results, it is concluded that mental disorders and criminal thinking have influence on criminal behaviors of perpetrators. This result indicates that while studying the etiology of criminality, judicial authorities and law enforcement should consider cognitive impairments and problematic thinking styles as important factors.