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Professionalising release management for mentally disordered perpetrators: Benefits in terms of recidivism rates—Results from a study within the Austrian prison system

BACKGROUND: In Austria, mentally ill perpetrators not guilty for reasons of insanity are committed into a custodial measure to receive treatment. The rate of these detainees returning after their conditional release because of reoffending or revocation decreased significantly over a period of 15 yea...

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Autor principal: Stempkowski, Monika
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7756423/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33186473
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/cbm.2179
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author Stempkowski, Monika
author_facet Stempkowski, Monika
author_sort Stempkowski, Monika
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description BACKGROUND: In Austria, mentally ill perpetrators not guilty for reasons of insanity are committed into a custodial measure to receive treatment. The rate of these detainees returning after their conditional release because of reoffending or revocation decreased significantly over a period of 15 years. AIMS: This study aims at examining this system and the adjustments made over a period of 10 years, in order to identify changes responsible for the observable decline of the recidivism rate. METHOD: Therefore, a quantitative study of 807 prison and court files was conducted, extracting information concerning former detainees either released in 2001 & 2002 (n = 67) or 2011 & 2012 (n = 134) and subsequently comparing the groups. Additionally, expert interviews were conducted. RESULTS: As one major change, the data revealed improvements regarding the preparation and management of the time on parole. The possibility for detainees to test their readiness for life outside the confinement through temporary interruptions of custody was enhanced, as were post‐release housing opportunities in care facilities. Additionally, the courts issued more directives concerning measures such as medication or abstinence from alcohol. CONCLUSION: Concerning mentally ill offenders, this study highlights the importance of a comprehensive preparation and management of the conditional release, providing support and treatment as well as a certain level of control.
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spelling pubmed-77564232020-12-28 Professionalising release management for mentally disordered perpetrators: Benefits in terms of recidivism rates—Results from a study within the Austrian prison system Stempkowski, Monika Crim Behav Ment Health Original Articles BACKGROUND: In Austria, mentally ill perpetrators not guilty for reasons of insanity are committed into a custodial measure to receive treatment. The rate of these detainees returning after their conditional release because of reoffending or revocation decreased significantly over a period of 15 years. AIMS: This study aims at examining this system and the adjustments made over a period of 10 years, in order to identify changes responsible for the observable decline of the recidivism rate. METHOD: Therefore, a quantitative study of 807 prison and court files was conducted, extracting information concerning former detainees either released in 2001 & 2002 (n = 67) or 2011 & 2012 (n = 134) and subsequently comparing the groups. Additionally, expert interviews were conducted. RESULTS: As one major change, the data revealed improvements regarding the preparation and management of the time on parole. The possibility for detainees to test their readiness for life outside the confinement through temporary interruptions of custody was enhanced, as were post‐release housing opportunities in care facilities. Additionally, the courts issued more directives concerning measures such as medication or abstinence from alcohol. CONCLUSION: Concerning mentally ill offenders, this study highlights the importance of a comprehensive preparation and management of the conditional release, providing support and treatment as well as a certain level of control. John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2020-11-13 2020-12 /pmc/articles/PMC7756423/ /pubmed/33186473 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/cbm.2179 Text en © 2020 The Authors. Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non‐commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.
spellingShingle Original Articles
Stempkowski, Monika
Professionalising release management for mentally disordered perpetrators: Benefits in terms of recidivism rates—Results from a study within the Austrian prison system
title Professionalising release management for mentally disordered perpetrators: Benefits in terms of recidivism rates—Results from a study within the Austrian prison system
title_full Professionalising release management for mentally disordered perpetrators: Benefits in terms of recidivism rates—Results from a study within the Austrian prison system
title_fullStr Professionalising release management for mentally disordered perpetrators: Benefits in terms of recidivism rates—Results from a study within the Austrian prison system
title_full_unstemmed Professionalising release management for mentally disordered perpetrators: Benefits in terms of recidivism rates—Results from a study within the Austrian prison system
title_short Professionalising release management for mentally disordered perpetrators: Benefits in terms of recidivism rates—Results from a study within the Austrian prison system
title_sort professionalising release management for mentally disordered perpetrators: benefits in terms of recidivism rates—results from a study within the austrian prison system
topic Original Articles
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7756423/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33186473
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/cbm.2179
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