Narratives of illness and offending: mentally disordered offenders’ views on their offending

Abstract

Narratives have been used in both the sociology of health and illness and in criminology to examine how groups of people present themselves in moral terms. This article focuses on the narratives of offenders with mental health problems in England subject to section 37/41 of the Mental Health Act 1983 to examine how they justified offending prior to admission. Participants presented illness in a variety of different ways indicating a range of moral positions towards offending. In line with previous research a first group used mental illness to excuse offending and saw themselves as achieving moral reform through treatment. A second group also used illness to excuse offending, but did so inconsistently, seeking to mitigate responsibility whilst distancing themselves from treatment obligations. A third group portrayed themselves as dishonourable both due to their category of offence and the type of illness experienced. A final group rejected both labels of illness and offending, seeking to portray themselves as consistently moral.

RETRACTED ARTICLE: The omnipresence of risk and associated harms in secure and forensic mental health services in England and Wales

“…It is posited that risk-averse management strategies may in themselves paradoxically act to increase the likelihood of violence (Barbui and Saraceno 2015). Patients may be reluctant to seek support or disclose violent ideation, especially in the context of formal risk assessment, for fear of being detained under the MHA or prolonging a current period of detention (Dixon 2018 ).…”

Growing older in secure mental health care: the user experience

“…Qualitative methods that capture the views of forensic service users, are pivotal to improving current services (Bartlett, 2016;Dixon, 2018;O'Sullivan & Chesterman, 2007;F. R. Parrott, 2005F.…”