FORENSIC MENTAL HEALTH

Forensic Mental Health

Development of secure hospitals for mentally disordered offenders in the UK

Introduction

Mental health disorders significantly contribute to the burden of disease, which quantifies the effect of mortality, morbidity, and disability for diseases. In 2001, noncommunicable neuropsychiatric disorders accounted for 12% of the burden of disease in UK and that number is expected to increase significantly by 2020. Among adults and the elderly which includes offenders as well, 5 of the 10 most frequently occurring disorders measured by disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) are unipolar depression, alcohol abuse, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and self-inflicted injuries.

About 25% of all persons along with offenders will develop one or more psychiatric or behavioral disorders during their lifetime with depression the leading psychiatric disorder with respect to disability affecting all cultures, countries, and age groups across the life span. This article provides an overview of what is currently known about intellectual health and psychiatric illness across global communities, and age groups, describes the global state of mental health nursing including challenges to growing the specialty of psychiatric-mental health nursing, and highlights recommendations for developing human resources to meet significant changes in mental health needs throughout the world. The issue that comes under the ambit of high-secure hospitals includes mental illness, Personality disorder and learning disorder. The patients in these hospitals are mostly the criminal offenders or the people who are affected from it. Challenges regarding how to respond to the increased number of criminal offenders and inmates with mental illnesses (also those suffering from mental retardation/developmental disability) have confronted criminal justice and corrections officials since the widespread deinstitutionalization of mentally ill individuals. There are myriad issues that arise from the incarceration of mentally ill and mentally challenged persons in UK's correctional institutions. There is also debate regarding the benefits and drawbacks of incarcerating mentally ill and mentally challenged individuals. In the UK, being mentally ill is not an acceptable defense to criminal punishment. As such, mentally ill individuals who may opt to plead insanity as their defense to criminal responsibility are likely being found guilty.

Background of offenders having mental disorders

In the early1800s, United Kingdom conducted many reforms for mentally challenged offenders in the system, due primarily to the poor conditions and inhumane treatment of the individuals in the jails. These sweeping reforms primarily resulted in the removal of these mentally ill individuals from jails and their placement in new state-run mental health hospitals and institutions. This lasted for about 150 years until the same accusations of inhumane treatment and deplorable conditions were leveled at the state mental health hospitals in the 1960s and 1970s. About this same time, significant medical (and medication) advances had been made, so there was a thought that mentally ill individuals would benefit from their removal from these hospitals and placement in the community.

The premise was that mentally ill individuals (some institutionalized for most, if not all, of their lives) would be able to live and function in society with the assistance of mental health treatment, especially medications such as the ...