Thursday, March 20, 2014

Treatment of violent mentally ill lowers rates of reoffending. New Study

Important new study: Researchers followed violent offenders (sentenced to 2 years or more) for an average of 10 months following their release and ascertained the rate of violent re-offending. The study included 742 individuals without psychosis; 94 with schizophrenia; 29 with delusional disorder; and 102 with drug-induced psychosis. It also assessed whether the individual’s mental illness was treated in prison, after leaving prison, or not at all.

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Is Assisted Outpatient Treatment (Laura's Law, Kendra's Law) "Forced Treatment"?

Someone suggested Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT) is "Forced" Treatment (and therefore presumably bad).

1. Describing AOT as "forced treatment" demonstrates a misunderstanding. AOT, by definition, is only used after voluntary treatment fails. They serve mutually exclusive populations. For those individuals who won't access voluntary treatment, perhaps because they are too psychotic or have anosognosia, AOT is a way to reduce forced treatment. It is the last off ramp before patients are put into locked into involuntary commitment wards or put behind locked cell doors. Involuntary commitment to a locked hospital ward or a jail cell is a genuine use of force. The AOT research clearly states AOT reduces the use of those forms of forced treatment.