Treating offenders with mental illness: A research synthesis.

Abstract

The purpose of this research synthesis was to examine treatment effects across studies of the service providers to offenders with mental illness. Meta-analytic techniques were applied to 26 empirical studies obtained from a review of 12,154 research documents. Outcomes of interest in this review included measures of both psychiatric and criminal functioning. Although meta-analytic results are based on a small sample of available studies, results suggest interventions with offenders with mental illness effectively reduced symptoms of distress, improving offender’s ability to cope with their problems, and resulted in improved behavioral markers including institutional adjustment and behavioral functioning. Furthermore, interventions specifically designed to meet the psychiatric and criminal justice needs of offenders with mental illness have shown to produce significant reductions in psychiatric and criminal recidivism. Finally, this review highlighted admission policies and treatment strategies (e.g., use of homework), which produced the most positive benefits. Results of this research synthesis are directly relevant for service providers in both criminal justice and mental health systems (e.g., psychiatric hospitals) as well as community settings by informing treatment strategies for the first time, which are based on empirical evidence. In addition, the implications of these results to policy makers tasked with the responsibility of designating services for this special needs population are highlighted.

The relationship between mental illness and violence in a mentally disordered offender sample: evaluating criminogenic and psychopathological predictors

“…The Risk, Need, and Responsivity (RNR) model has been the most widely used and validated model of offender rehabilitation (Andrews & Bonta, 2010Andrews et al, 1990 although its applicability to mentally disordered offenders needs further attention (Morgan et al, 2012). The RNR model outlines the importance of treating criminogenic needs -that is, dynamic offender characteristics, that when changed, are associated with reduced recidivism rates.…”

Elderly Sexual Offenders

“…Countering this, some researchers have found that for select patients, mental illness can be a factor for recidivism [73][74][75]. This suggest that risk assessment and management is not as simple as applying a quick risk assessment tool; instead a more nuanced approach by appropriately trained medical professionals is necessary.…”

Reconviction and revocation rates in Flanders after medium security treatment

“…In adult forensic populations, as far as we know, no meta-analyses show clear consistent associations between forensic treatment and a reduction in recidivism. In a research synthesis by Morgan et al (2012), treatment effects of service providers to offenders with mental illness were examined across studies. Some studies suggested that forensic interventions can reduce symptoms of distress and improve offender's ability to cope with their problems, resulting in adapted behavioural markers such as institutional adjustment.…”