The Treatment of The Criminally Insane in Italy

Traverso, Giovanni; Ciappi, Silvio; Ferracuti, Stefano

doi:10.1016/s0160-2527(00)00047-9

Cited by 10 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 14 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Forensic psychiatric patients have mental health difficulties and functional impairment, but also present a history of criminal behavior, violent or sexual offending, a high prevalence of comorbid personality disorder, behavior disturbance, self-harm, and substance use (8). Treatment is thus related to a patient's clinical and psychopathological needs but should also take into account the balance between his/her needs and the needs for safety (9). Given these unique rehabilitative needs, Dorkins & Adshead (10) foresee four problems for the recovery-approach in forensic settings: the values and identity of forensic psychiatric patients, social exclusion as a community response to trauma and violence, empowerment for those who misuse power and do not respect the choices of others, and hopelessness and the offender identity.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring Needs and Quality of Life of Forensic Psychiatric Inpatients in the Reformed Italian System, Implications for Care and Safety

Vorstenbosch

Castelletti

2020

Front. Psychiatry

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The Italian forensic psychiatric system underwent drastic reforms. The newly developed facilities are inspired by psychiatric community services, embracing a recovery-oriented approach. Needs and quality of life are broader concepts that consider the more rehabilitative and humanitarian aspects of treatment. In one of the new Italian forensic psychiatric services, this cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the needs and quality of life of forensic psychiatric patients. A second aim was to validate the Italian version of the Forensic inpatient Quality of Life questionnaire Short Version (FQL-SV). Overall, 42 forensic psychiatric patients were assessed using the Forensic version of the Camberwell Assessment of Need (CANFOR), the Historical-Clinical-Risk-Management-20 (HCR-20), the FQL-SV, and the World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQoL-Bref). Patients reported significantly fewer needs, whether met or unmet, than their treating clinicians. The general level of agreement between patients and clinicians on specific needs was low Kappa values were < .40 for 64% of the total needs and 46% of the unmet needs. Risk factors according to the HCR-20 mean scores were 13.1, 4.6, and 6.4 for the historical, clinical and risk management subscale. Quality of life was moderate to high for 74% of the patients. Our results showed that lower numbers of needs, whether reported by patients or clinicians, were associated with a better quality of life. The Italian FQL-SV had a Cronbach's alpha of 0.86 and correlated as expected with the WHOQoL-Bref. The FQL-SV is a valid and reliable tool, justifying its use for routinely assessing QoL in Italian forensic psychiatric services. This study enhances our understanding of needs and quality of life of forensic psychiatric patients and how their assessment could have an additional value for recoveryoriented treatment in forensic psychiatry. Although the detained status of forensic patients imposes real limits on the capacity for autonomy and choice, incorporating the patient's perspective on decision-making processes, in relation to aspects of treatment, care, and daily life, may have benefits such as a better treatment adherence or therapeutic alliance. Future research should clarify how routinely assessing needs and quality of life can contribute to the recovery of these forensic psychiatric patients.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring Needs and Quality of Life of Forensic Psychiatric Inpatients in the Reformed Italian System, Implications for Care and Safety

Vorstenbosch

Castelletti

2020

Front. Psychiatry

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…220 CPP clarifies that: "with the exception of what is provided for by law with regard to the execution of a punishment or a measure, expert evaluations assessing customary or professionality in crime commissions, and more in general mental features not related to psychopathology, are not allowed". This implies that psychological or criminological expertise, with regards to defendant's psychological or behavioral general aspects not directly related to psychopathology, is allowed only after a decision about insanity has been made; during the period preceding this decision, only medical evaluations are admitted (Traverso, Ciappi, & Ferracuti, 2000).…”

Section: Italymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As happens with regard to infirmity evaluations, any medical doctor may perform this kind of assessment. Moreover, at this stage, with the only purpose of assisting the judge to define contents and terms of the potential execution phase, psychological and criminological examinations (with the optional use of structured diagnostic tools) are also allowed (Traverso et al, 2000). If a defendant is deemed by the court legally not accountable due to complete infirmity and dangerous to society, different kinds of measures may be imposed, considering the therapeutic indications provided by the forensic expert.…”

Section: Italymentioning

confidence: 99%

Forensic psychiatric evaluations of defendants: Italy and the Netherlands compared

Messina

Ferracuti

Nicolò

et al. 2019

International Journal of Law and Psychiatry

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…The treatment of mentally ill offenders in forensic psychiatric hospitals is complex as it requires finding the right balance between patients' needs and the society's need for safety (Traverso, Ciappi, & Ferracuti, 2000). Moreover, therapists working in forensic psychiatry are confronted with patients with combinations of major mental illnesses and/or Downloaded by [University of Otago] at 20:44 01 October 2015 dangerous and severe personality disorders, who are forced to spend a considerable proportion of their adult life in forensic psychiatric institutions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Qualify of Life of Forensic Psychiatric Inpatients

Nieuwenhuizen

Nijman

2009

International Journal of Forensic Mental Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In this article, the quality of life (QoL) of mentally disordered offenders was investigated. The data of 44 forensic psychiatric inpatients were analyzed using the Lancashire Quality of Life Profile (LQoLP), Rehabilitation Evaluation Hall and Baker (REHAB), and the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R). Outcome on the LQoLP was compared with data of hospitalized male psychiatric patients. Results show that the QoL of forensic psychiatric inpatients was particularly low as to their living conditions and their health. However, compared to general psychiatric patients they encountered fewer problems with envisioning their life as having some meaningful perspective. On six of the ten domains, nonpsychotic forensic psychiatric patients reported a lower, though nonsignificant, QoL as compared to the psychotic forensic psychiatric patients. Between psychopathic and nonpsychopathic forensic psychiatric patients no significant differences were found. A trend was found for the domain finances for which nonpsychopaths reported a lower quality of life. Our hypothesis that patients with a lower level of functioning will report a lower QoL was not confirmed in this study. However, a significant correlation between general behavior and global well-being was found. Future studies should further investigate the relation between quality of life of forensic psychiatric patients and recidivism, to gain more insight in whether (certain aspects of) QoL are associated with lower recidivism risks in the long run.

show abstract

The Treatment of The Criminally Insane in Italy

Cited by 10 publications

References 14 publications

Exploring Needs and Quality of Life of Forensic Psychiatric Inpatients in the Reformed Italian System, Implications for Care and Safety

Exploring Needs and Quality of Life of Forensic Psychiatric Inpatients in the Reformed Italian System, Implications for Care and Safety

Forensic psychiatric evaluations of defendants: Italy and the Netherlands compared

Qualify of Life of Forensic Psychiatric Inpatients

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About