On Tuesday 14 November, our ‘voluntary attendance pilot’ was launched in Reading by us and the Howard League.
The new scheme aims to intervene and help people at the earliest opportunity, including pre-arrest and on voluntary attendance/interview at a police station if suspected of a criminal offence, before being charged. Traditionally, resources have been focused in police custody suites and magistrates’ courts, where people are arrested, charged and sentenced. This approach will assess the needs of the people who are at risk and prevent them getting into trouble in the first place.
Psychological Services13.3 (Aug 2016): 261-271.
Sexual offenders are more likely to have a history of psychiatric hospitalization compared with the general population. This finding suggests that a history of psychiatric hospitalization is a plausible risk factor for the initiation of sexual crimes. It is less clear, however, whether psychiatric hospitalization is associated with risk factors for criminal recidivism. Consequently, the current study examined the correlates of psychiatric hospitalization and its relevance for risk assessment in a sample of sexual offenders on community supervision (N = 947). To read the full article, log in using your NHS OpenAthens details.
In England and Wales, secure and forensic psychiatric institutions provide a high-cost, low-volume service that imposes significant restrictions upon detainees. Patients may be detained under the Mental Health Act in such settings for several years or even life, as they are deemed to present a significant risk to themselves or the public. Patients under s37/41 require the Home Office to approve any increase in their freedom. Best practice requires reoffending risk to be assessed before a patient is discharged. Evaluation of risk is an inexact actuarial science operating in a political arena, and research has indicated risk assessment tools have little positive predictive validity. There is concern amongst the wider psychiatric and judicial communities about the ethics of current practice. We examine these issues and consider means of improving risk assessment through red-teaming, increased collaboration between clinician and patient and a paradigm shift towards greater emphasis on patient self-agency. Login using your SSSFT NHS OpenAthens details for full text.
People with serious mental illness (SMI) are at risk of dying many years earlier than the general population. Providing an effective, cost-efficient healthcare service requires a holistic approach, and improving the physical health of people with SMI should be integral to all healthcare roles. It is important for nurses to identify and understand the barriers that people with SMI may experience when accessing physical healthcare.
To read the full article, log in using your NHS OpenAthens details
CNWL has introduced new staff with new ways of working at Woodhill Prison to support the early identification of prisoners with mental health concerns – before these reach crisis levels.
The Trust, which provides both mental and physical healthcare, has hired four new associate practitioners with a fifth to start soon, to reduce levels of self harm and suicide at the prison and to improve mental health generally.
The initiative allows the Clinical Psychologist and Mental Health Nurses to concentrate on more serious and complex cases, while still enabling the concerns of prisoners with lower level mental health problems, such as anxiety or depression, to be supported, potentially preventing such conditions becoming worse.
Psychology, Public Policy, and Law Vol. 24, Iss. 1, (Feb 2018): 48-63.
Whereas there is a common assumption that most individuals with a criminal record can be eventually reintegrated into the community, the public has different expectations for sexual offenders. In many countries, individuals with a history of sexual offenses are subject to a wide range of long-term restrictions on housing and employment, as well as public notification measures intended to prevent them from merging unnoticed into the population of law-abiding citizens. This article examines the testable assumption that individuals with a history of sexual crime present an enduring risk for sexual recidivism.. To read the full article, log in using your NHS OpenAthens details.
There is growing interest in the health correlates of people detained in police custody, and a number of innovations have been introduced to try to meet the complex needs of detainees. The implementation of Criminal Justice Liaison and Diversion (CJL&D) Services commissioned by the Department of Health in England is a substantial part of this investment. In this paper, we describe data from 858 detainees who were referred to the CJL&D service of a busy metropolitan police station in the North East of England. The detainees referred to the service had complex mental health needs, substance misuse and a range of vulnerabilities requiring specific intervention. The effective operation of these teams and how they interface with health and criminal justice systems also depend upon a number of systematic issues that emanate both from within the teams, and from external policy drivers.. Please contact the library to request a copy of this article - http://bit.ly/1Xyazai
This article describes the implementation and evaluation of an annual camp at a secure unit in Australia. The Adult Mental Health Rehabilitation Unit is a locked medium secure unit housing clients with a diagnosis of a psychotic disorder with severe and treatment resistant symptoms. For the past 6 years, the unit has been offering an annual 3-day camp as a means of supporting recovery and enhancing occupational participation. Login using your SSSFT NHS OpenAthens details for full text. SSOTP - You can request a copy of this article by replying to this email. Please ensure you are clear which article you requesting.
This paper brings a close analysis to bear on tensions in the main discourses within probation and the wider criminal justice system, namely between punitive, target-driven approaches and the opposing gender-responsive, strengths-based, humanitarian, individualised ones. Drawing on a pilot study, which is an early part of the author's Ph.D., the article explores how probation practitioners attempt to work constructively within the constraints of statutory supervision and how the pressures and dilemmas are managed.
To read the full article, log in using your NHS OpenAthens details
Transformation of secure adult MH services to focus more on rehab and community care. You can request a copy of this article by replying to this email. Please be clear which article you are requesting.
This Commons Library briefing discusses the debate around raising the age of criminal responsibility - the age below which a child is deemed not to have the capacity to commit a crime.
Blog post. Around the world, more people than ever are locked up in prisons – estimated to be in excess of 11 million people, up by almost 20 per cent since the turn of the millennium (pdf). According to a recent House of Commons Briefing Paper the rate of increase is even higher than this in the UK where prison populations are at a record high. Many of these incarcerated individuals have intensifying mental health needs – for instance, the same briefing paper reports that UK rates of self-harm in prisoners were 25 per cent higher in 2015 than in 2014. Ahead of this week’s meeting of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Psychology on the topic of Mental Health in the Criminal Justice System, here we provide a digest of research into the mental health of prisoners.
Psychologically informed planned environments (PIPEs) are specifically designed environments where staff members have additional training to increase their psychological understanding of their work. This understanding enables them to create a safe and supportive environment which can help facilitate the development and improvement of those who live there. They aim to maximise ordinary situations in order to support development and to approach this in a psychologically informed way, and by paying particular attention to issues relating to personality disorder. Since PIPEs have been introduced into the Criminal Justice System in 2011, significant improvements in institutional behaviour have been observed. This paper considers the development of the therapeutic environment of a PIPE Unit and in particular its translation for women in custody. Reflecting upon narratives taken from focus groups within a female PIPE Unit in England, it will theorise why, for many women, the environment plays a significant part in their recovery and progression in prison. Although this paper focuses on a PIPE environment, it is suggested that observations can also be transferred to other forensic environments, including therapeutic communities, enabling environments, treatment services, hospital wards, normal wing locations and so forth. Login using your SSSFT NHS OpenAthens for full text. SSOTP - You can request a copy of this article by replying to this email. Please ensure you are clear which article you are requesting.
Krysia Canvin looks at the outcome of a restraint reduction programme (‘REsTRAIN YOURSELF’) to minimise physical restraint in acute mental health services.
Seeks views on proposed changes to directions and guidance setting out minimum required standards of safety and security in high security psychiatric hospitals in England.
Conclusions: This is the first study providing comprehensive outcome data over a 10-year period. Forensic services appear good at managing the risk to the community but poor at promoting better social outcomes. The levels of violence within inpatient units are high. - Mental Elf Blog post.
Login using your SSSFT NHS OpenAthens for full text. SSOTP - You can request a copy of this article by replying to this email. Please ensure you are clear which article you are requesting.
Probation officers have large caseloads with high levels of psychiatric morbidity but receive minimal training in recognising/managing mental health problems. In the UK, there is no national screening procedure for mental illness among offenders that is considered effective. This study’s aim was to develop a screening system for mental/personality disorders using the Offender Assessment System. Seven screens for mental disorder were developed using items from assessments on 574 prisoners: alcohol misuse, drug dependence, antisocial personality disorder, psychopathy, learning difficulties, psychosis and severe mood disturbance. Internal validation showed that the screens performed well across accuracy estimates. Prevalence of mental disorders identified with the screens in test and validation samples was similar. However, the psychopathy and severe mood disturbance screens may be more effective in screening for true negatives. The screens are an economical method for prioritising mental health needs of the UK prison and probation population using routinely collected data. Login using your SSSFT NHS OpenAthens for full text. SSOTP - You can request a copy of this article by replying to this email. Please ensure you are clear which article you are requesting.
The use of seclusion is controversial. Using routinely collected data from low and medium secure service provider in the United Kingdom (n = 347) this study compared secluded and non-secluded Asperger’s syndrome, paranoid schizophrenia, organic personality disorder and emotionally unstable personality disorder patients.. Please contact the library to request a copy of this article - http://bit.ly/1Xyazai
Women’s enhanced medium secure services (WEMSS) is a model of care aimed at providing a more appropriate level of security for women and, in so doing, reducing the number of women in high secure psychiatric services. In 2007, three Department of Health commissioned WEMSS pilots became operational. This study compared the clinical outcomes of women in WEMSS with control women in six standard medium secure services and one high secure service matched on key clinical and risk characteristics, in order to examine their pathways of care. Login using your SSSFT NHS OpenAthens for full text. SSOTP - You can request a copy of this article by replying to this email. Please ensure you are clear which article you are requesting.
Tracy and Angela spoke about the Visiting GP Service, which was rolled out across our secure services. The service operates from The Forge GP practice in Warrington and is accessible to all service users staying on our low-secure inpatient wards at Hollins Park Hospital.
Tracy and Angela have also implemented a comprehensive physical health database to assist the service in reviewing, monitoring and optimising the health and wellbeing of our patients. The database captures the whole range of physical health needs, including national screening programmes and the safe management of service users with long-term health conditions.
W. Alink, R. Bhoedjang, A. de Vries, и P. Boncz. Proceedings of the Digital Forensic Research Workshop 2006, стр. 1 - 26. Nederlands Forensisch Instituut, (2006)