NCJ Number
84376
Journal
International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology Volume: 26 Issue: 1 Dated: (1982) Pages: 53-61
Date Published
1982
Length
9 pages
Annotation
This article describes a cooperative program between Pennsylvania's mental health and corrections systems which transferred mentally ill prisoners to a 23-bed psychiatric center offering a combination of intensive treatment and comprehensive correctional services.
Abstract
The project was administered jointly by the Bureau of Corrections and the Department of Welfare, and the treatment team was composed of hospital and correctional personnel with a full-time coordinator trained in both fields. All correctional planning including prerelease and parole was continued throughout the patients' hospitalization. The program consisted of psychological evaluation, psychotropic medication, group and individual psychotherapy, occupational therapy, hospital employment, academic and vocational training, recreational activities, and a very successful music therapy component. A therapeutic community approach allowed all staff and patients an equal say in decisions about privileges, rules, and discipline and administered a patient privilege system. Case histories illustrate the program's methods, its effectiveness, and a correctional officer's attitude change. The program's goal was to release patients gradually into the community after dissipation of acute symptoms. Comparisons of the 117 patients treated over a 40-month period with a sample of mentally ill offenders treated within the local correctional institution showed that 52.6 percent of the program's patients were released before their maximum sentence expired as opposed to 41 percent in the comparison group. The patients' recidivism rate was comparable to that for the general offender population, but this was viewed as highly favorable since mentally ill offenders would have greater difficulties adjusting to society. Tables and five references are provided.