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Slot Merritt posted an update 1 week, 5 days ago
Purpose Within the German legal framework, if an unlawful act is committed by a substance-addicted offender, courts shall make a forensic addiction treatment order (referred to as FAT). In 2010-2015, German courts applied this rule to 14,576 individuals. The article aims to explore the development of FAT sex ratios, its relation to other criminological measures and its regional distribution – and to describe gender-related differences within the FAT population. Methods Yearly and state-specific sex ratios in FAT orders were calculated and related to general delinquency figures. Women were compared to men on various variables. We computed chi-square, t- and Kruskal-Wallis tests. Results Compared to registered and sanctioned delinquency, women are steadily underrepresented, but the sex ratio differs largely among German states. Compared to men, women are 1 year older, have a less severe criminal history and a different distribution of addiction-related delinquency. Their average concurrent prison sentence is shorter, indicating less severe offences. Conclusions Findings largely conform to epidemiological knowledge. However, it is unlikely that these effects explain the extent of women’s underrepresentation concerning FAT. Instead, FAT-application seems to be influenced by gender-related decision biases in jurisdiction. Regional differences cannot be explained epidemiologically, they seem to indicate different juridical “cultures”.Shared decision making (SDM) can be an effective method for promoting service involvement among persons with serious mental illness (SMI). This survey study sought to identify predictors of positive attitudes toward the use of SDM with people with SMI who are living under probation and parole supervision. Supervising officers’ (n = 291) perceptions of the capabilities of supervisees with SMI to contribute to their supervision plans, and their familiarity with recovery-oriented mental health services, were positively associated with attitudes toward using SDM. Training officers in common human goals and mental health recovery may advance SDM with supervisees with SMI.Aim Police action is frequently discussed and almost always monitored. The aim of this systematic review is to identify the psychological and social factors underlying police officers’ decisions to use force. Methodology Scientific articles were selected from six databases (PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES, Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection, HeinOnline, ScienceDirect, PubMed). Results We found 923 articles matching our search, and 52 were retained based on their results regarding the psychological factors underlying police officers’ decisions to use force and the decision-making process itself. We found that the most frequently studied factors were belonging to an ethnic minority, carrying a conducted energy device (CED), the police department’s policies and managerial organization, and the environment in which the encounter occurred. read more However, it seems that the most predictive factor in the decision to use force is the resistance and behavior of the suspect.Background Outpatient civil commitment (OCC), community treatment orders (CTOs) in European and Commonwealth nations, require the provision of needed-treatment to protect against imminent threats to health and safety. OCC-reviews aggregating all studies report inconsistent outcomes. This review, searches for consistency in OCC-outcomes by evaluating studies based on mental health system characteristics, measurement, and design principles. Methods All previously reviewed OCC-studies and more recent investigations were grouped by their outcome-measures’ relationship to OCC statute objectives. A study’s evidence-quality ranking was assessed. Hospital and service-utilization outcomes were grouped by whether they represented treatment provision, patient outcome, or the conflation of both. Results OCC-studies including direct health and safety outcomes found OCC associated with reduced mortality-risk, increased access to acute medical care, and reduced violence and victimization risks. Studies considering treatment-provision, found OCC associated with improved medication and service compliance. If coupled with assertive community treatment (ACT) or aggressive case management OCC was associated with enhanced ACT success in reducing hospitalization need. When outpatient-services were limited, OCC facilitated rapid return to hospital for needed-treatment and increased hospital utilization in the absence of a less restrictive alternative. OCC-studies measuring “total hospital days”, “prevention of hospitalization”, and “readmissions” report negative and/or no difference findings because they erroneously conflate their intervention (provision of needed treatment) and outcome. Conclusions This investigation finds replicated beneficial associations between OCC and direct measures of imminent harm indicating reductions in threats to health and safety. It also finds support for OCC as a less restrictive alternative to inpatient care.While only a small percentage of people with intellectual disabilities are responsible for criminal behaviors, the literature points to their overrepresentation in prisons, although not enough attention has been paid to intellectual disability data for inmates. We retrieved studies – in English, Spanish, Italian or French and indexed in Medline between 2000 and 2018 – that provided intellectual disability data for prisons collected by the administration of validated tests to male inmates. Identified were 13 studies involving more than 15,000 inmates referring to intellectual disability and borderline intellectual disability. The general findings of our review corroborate the overrepresentation of people with ID in prisons, although prevalence rates range widely, from as low as 1% to as high as 69.9% (p less then 0.000001), reflecting to differences in methodology, in local, social and cultural factors and in judicial procedures. Published studies clearly underline the overrepresentation of people with intellectual disabilities in prisons, differences between countries, the vulnerabilities of persons with intellectual disabilities and the need for proper assessment and management policies in prisons worldwide.