Search results for ‘Subject term:"mental health problems"’ Sort:
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Law reform - mentally disordered and vulnerable adults
- Author:
- DAILLY Mike
- Journal article citation:
- SCOLAG Journal, 205, October 1993, pp.153-154.
- Publisher:
- ScoLAG(Scottish Legal Action Group)
Outlines some key issues raised by the Scottish Law Commission's discussion paper on mentally disordered and vulnerable adults.
Blue remembered skills: mental health awareness training for police officers
- Authors:
- CUMMINGS Ian, JONES Stuart
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Adult Protection, 12(3), August 2010, pp.14-19.
- Publisher:
- Emerald
Police officers can have a key role to play in situations where individuals are experiencing some sort of crisis relating to their mental health. Despite the fact that this is a very important facet of day to day police work, it is an area that is neglected in police training. The Bradley Report has raised a number of important questions regarding the treatment of individuals who are experiencing mental health problems and find themselves in the criminal justice system. One of the key recommendations is that professional staff working across criminal justice organisations should receive increased training in this area. This paper outlines two approaches to the training of police officers in the mental health field. The first is a joint working initiative between Hywel NHS Trust and Dyfed Powys Police. In this training, all student officers receive 2 days training in first aid in mental health, and spend 4 days at the acute psychiatric unit where they become personally involved in the care of individuals who are experiencing acute distress. The second approach comprised a classroom-based training course directed at custody sergeants. The article goes on to consider the most effective models of training for police officers.
Criminal narratives of mentally disordered offenders: an exploratory study
- Authors:
- SPRUIN Elizabeth, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Forensic Psychology Practice, 14(5), 2014, pp.438-455.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia
The study explored the personal narratives of Mentally Disordered Offenders (MDOs) and the impact various mental disorders had on the structure of the offenders’ criminal narratives. Seventy adult male offenders who were sectioned under the United Kingdom’s Mental Health Act 2007 were recruited for the study. Participants were provided with a 36 item Criminal Narrative Role Questionnaire. Smallest Space Analysis found four criminal narrative themes (Victim, Revenger, Hero, Professional), which indicated clear distinctions in the narrative experience of MDOs. The major differences were found to be related to the vulnerability of the offender’s mental disorder. (Publisher abstract)
The Good Lives Model tool kit for mentally disordered offenders
- Author:
- BARNAO Mary
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Forensic Practice, 15(3), 2013, pp.157-170.
- Publisher:
- Emerald
Purpose: The Good Lives Model (GLM) is a new approach to offender rehabilitation that provides an integrative framework for assisting individuals to achieve their goals while reducing their risk for reoffending. Recently it has been proposed that an augmented form of the GLM could provide a comprehensive conceptual, ethical and practice framework for rehabilitation within the specialty of forensic mental health. However, there is a paucity of published literature to guide practitioners on how to integrate the GLM into their practice with mentally disordered offenders. The aim of this article is to present a set of resources (the GLM tool kit) tailored for use with offenders with mental disorder. Design/methodology/approach : Each of the five resources that comprise the tool kit will be described, the theoretical, methodological and practical considerations that influenced their development will be reviewed, and a case example demonstrating their clinical application, presented. Findings: The tool kit can guide forensic mental health practitioners in assessment, case conceptualisation and rehabilitation planning according to the Good Lives Model. It includes some practical resources that practitioners can use to help mentally disordered offenders understand themselves better, including the reasons why they came to offend, and to highlight what they need to change to live better lives. Practical implications – The paper provides clinicians with some structure in applying the Good Lives Model within a forensic mental health team context. Originality/value – Much of the GLM practice literature relates to non-mentally disordered offenders. The paper builds on this literature by presenting a set of tools that have been designed specifically with mentally disordered offenders in mind. (Publisher abstract)
Psycho-educational groupwork for detained offender patients: understanding mental illness
- Authors:
- VALLENTINE Victoria, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Forensic Psychiatry and Psychology (The), 21(3), June 2010, pp.393-406.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
Psycho-education for patients suffering from psychiatric disorders is seen as a key element in the goal of recovery. The aim of this study was to determine the usefulness of a groupwork cognitive behavioural psycho-educational intervention for patients in a high-security hospital. Four 20-session ‘Understanding Mental Illness’ groups, each containing up to 9 participants with a primary diagnosis of mental illness, were run over a period 3 years. The group aims to promote awareness of descriptions of illness and strategies for managing symptoms. Of the 42 patients originally referred, 31 completed the group. The Self-Concept Questionnaire (SCQ) and Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation – Outcome Measure (CORE-OM) were administered pre- and post-group, measures to monitor relapse and behavioural change were also included. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with participants and their feedback was examined using content analysis. Themes from the interviews indicated that patients reported a number of benefits. Formal measures used as indices of 'change' failed to yield clear improvements in self-reported functioning. However, the majority of patients engaged in further psychological work, which is cautiously interpreted as a trend in the direction of openness to engagement.
Courting favour
- Author:
- GILLEN Sally
- Journal article citation:
- Mental Health Today, June 2010, pp.10-11.
- Publisher:
- Pavilion
- Place of publication:
- Hove
This article describes two projects that have been trying to steer mentally ill offenders away from prison. Since January 2009, two magistrates’ courts (one in Stratford, east London, the other in Brighton, Sussex) have been piloting mental health courts. As part of this programme, a mental health practitioner screens those arriving from police custody and prison, and, where necessary, carries out an assessment. Information from this assessment is taken into account by the magistrate when deciding how to deal with each case. If a person is identified as having mental health problems, community treatment is sought, rather than a custodial sentence. For those that are imprisoned, the assessment arrives with them to ensure their particular needs or risks are identified from the outset. The author concludes that, aside from the compelling moral argument for diverting people with mental health problems away from prison into community services, there are economic benefits too – figures suggest that a custodial sentence costs £13,125 on average, compared to a community order costing £1,500 to £4,000.
Criminal justice, mental health and employment
- Author:
- HAMMOND Judith
- Journal article citation:
- A Life in the Day, 11(1), February 2007, pp.16-18.
- Publisher:
- Emerald
This article outlines the particular barriers facing offenders with mental health problems trying to get back into employment following release from prison. The article also provides a brief account of the work of First Step Trust, which works with service users in Broadmoor on an employment programme based on small enterprises.
The role of mental illness in homicide-suicide in New Zealand, 1991 – 2000
- Authors:
- MOSKOWITZ Andrew, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Forensic Psychiatry and Psychology (The), 17(3), September 2006, pp.417-430.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
Prior studies of homicide-suicide (H-S) have largely glossed over the relevance of mental illness (MI), either ignoring the issue outright or defining H-S cases as intrinsically related to MI or not. While such positions have methodological or theoretical justifications, it was felt that a finer-grained analysis was possible and might prove fruitful. As part of a large population study on homicide and MI in New Zealand, all H-S cases over a 10-year period were identified through a police database and their Coronial Services files reviewed. Thirty-three H-S cases (0.08 per 100,000 prevalence) were identified. Fourteen perpetrators (42.4%) were classified as MI; among these were all five of the female perpetrators and 32% of the male; 20% had not previously been in treatment. Most of the MI perpetrators killed their children and then themselves. In contrast, only a few of the H-S perpetrators who killed a current or former partner were MI. It is concluded that H-S events in New Zealand appear broadly similar to such events in other countries, and that MI plays a significant role in some forms of H-S. However, the relationship between gender, H-S motivation, and mental illness is clearly complex and in need of further study.
Mental health tragedies: investigating beyond human error
- Author:
- MUNRO Eileen
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Forensic Psychiatry and Psychology (The), 15(3), September 2004, pp.475-493.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
The Department of Health is introducing a mandatory reporting system to replace the statutory inquiries held when a mentally ill person commits homicide, as part of a radical transformation in the way errors and adverse outcomes are investigated and in the types of solutions that will be sought. Inquiries typically investigated whether there was a causally significant error or omission by professionals involved in the perpetrator's care. If human error is identified the inquiry tends to see it as sufficient explanation and the investigation ends. Experience in other fields has found that such limited investigations do not produce effective lessons for preventing future tragedies. It is necessary to regard human error as a symptom not a cause and ask why that person performed that action in those circumstances. In particular, one can examine the systemic factors acting on the professional and consider whether they made a mistake more likely. Shows how radically different this change is and contrasts it with the current inquiry procedure. It is argued that the new approach holds the promise of more effective learning but it requires major developments in research design and a fundamental cultural change in the NHS to a more open organisation where errors or mistakes (the raw data) can be reported without fear of retribution. Obstacles to achieving this are discussed.
Impressions of US forensic services
- Author:
- COLLINS Sharon
- Journal article citation:
- Changes an International Journal of Psychology and Psychotherapy, 11(2), June 1993, pp.111-114.
Brief notes from an eight-week study tour of facilities in the USA for mentally disordered offenders.