Position and treatment of convicts with mental disorders in penal system

Abstract

Persons with mental illnesses may be deprived of their freedom should they be associated with committing crime. Te rate of convicts with mental disorders in prisons ranges between 15% and 25%. Their detention negatively affects their mental health, increases recidivism risks and reduces the possibility of rehabilitation. Penal treatments practiced in the world are focused on their criminogenic needs, whilst in Serbia, despite the existence of official instruments for assessing convicts' risks, needs and capacity for change, there have not been any research studies on application of effective treatments in penal institutions for convicts with mental disorders. Te aim of the paper was to demonstrate the presence frequency of mentally ill convicts in penal system, the specificity of the status of simultaneously ill and incarcerated persons, the normative rules which determine their sanctions, specific recidivism risk assessment instruments and specialized effective treatments in foreign penal systems of this dually stigmatized population.

Keywords

• mental disorders
• convicts
• risk
• treatment
• security measures