Treatment of psychosis in prisons and violent recidivism
Background Violence among released prisoners with psychosis is an important public health problem. It is unclear whether treatment in prison can influence criminal behaviour subsequent to release. Aims...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Cambridge University Press
2015-10-01
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| Series: | BJPsych Open |
| Online Access: | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2056472400001010/type/journal_article |
| Summary: | Background
Violence among released prisoners with psychosis is an important public health problem. It is unclear whether treatment in prison can influence criminal behaviour subsequent to release.
Aims
To investigate whether treatment in prison can delay time to reoffending.
Method
Our sample consisted of 1717 adult prisoners in England and Wales convicted of a serious violent or sexual offence. We used Cox regression to investigate the effects of treatment received in prison on associations between mental illness and time to first reconviction following release.
Results
Prisoners with current symptoms of schizophrenia reoffended quicker following release. Nevertheless, treatment with medication significantly delayed time to violence (18% reduction). Treatment for substance dependence delayed violent and non-violent reoffending among prisoners with drug-induced psychosis.
Conclusions
Identifying prisoners with psychosis and administering treatment in prison have important protective effects against reoffending. Repeated screening with improved accuracy in identification is necessary to prevent cases being missed.
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| ISSN: | 2056-4724 |