RELEASED CRIMINALLY INSANE OFFENDER - SOCIAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL ADJUSTMENT (FROM CONTEMPORARY CORRECTIONS SOCIAL CONTROL AND CONFLICT, 1977 BY C RONALD HUFF - SEE NCJ-44951)

• NCJ Number: 44958
• Author(s): T P THORNBERRY; J E JACOBY
• Date Published: 1977
• Length: 16 pages
• Grant Number(s): MH 23742
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Health, Education, and Welfare
• Corporate Author: Sage Publications, Inc
• Publication Format: Document
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: PART OF A LARGER RESEARCH PROJECT ENTITLED 'RELEASE OF DANGEROUS MENTAL PATIENTS - THE DIXON CASE'

Annotation

THE AUTHORS ANALYZE THE IMPACT OF A 1971 FEDERAL COURT DECISION WHICH RESULTED IN THE RELEASE OF 586 'CRIMINALLY INSANE' PATIENTS FROM A MAXIMUM-SECURITY MENTAL HOSPITAL.

Abstract

THESE OFFENDERS, WHOSE COMMITMENT THE COURT DEEMED UNCONSTITUTIONAL, WERE RELEASED FROM PENNSYLVANIA'S FARVIEW STATE HOSPITAL AND REFERRED TO THE CIVIL MENTAL HOSPITAL NEAREST THEIR HOMES FOR EVALUATION. THEY WERE TO BE SUBSEQUENTLY RELEASED TO THE COMMUNITY UNLESS THERE WERE 'COMPELLING REASONS' FOR THEIR CONTINUED CONFINEMENT. ULTIMATELY, 65 PERCENT OF THEM WERE RELEASED TO THE COMMUNITY. THE PRINCIPAL QUESTION RAISED BY THE AUTHORS WAS WHETHER THESE PATIENTS WERE ABLE TO ADJUST TO THE INCREMENTALLY EXPANDED FREEDOM OF LIVING FIRST IN A CIVIL MENTAL HOSPITAL AND THEN (FOR TWO-THIRDS OF THEM) IN THE COMMUNITY. IF THESE PATIENTS COULD NOT ADJUST TO THE FREEDOM OF COMMUNITY LIVING AFTER YEARS OF MAXIMUM-SECURITY CONFINEMENT, IT WOULD RAISE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE EXTENT TO WHICH THEIR NEEDS HAD ACTUALLY BEEN MET BY THE COURT'S RULING. SUCH A FINDING WOULD ALSO SUGGEST THAT ALTERNATE MEASURES FOR SECURING THE CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS OF SUCH PATIENTS MIGHT HAVE TO BE EMPLOYED IN THE FUTURE. THE DATA PRESENTED DO NOT SUPPORT THE CONTENTION THAT THESE PATIENTS WERE INCAPABLE OF ADJUSTING TO A COMMUNITY SETTING. USING A GENERAL ADJUSTMENT SCALE THAT CONTAINED A NUMBER OF SUBSCALES MEASURING SOCIAL BEHAVIOR AND PSYCHOLOGICAL SYMPTOM DISTRESS, IT WAS DISCOVERED THAT THESE PATIENTS EXHIBITED A LEVEL OF SOCIAL ADJUSTMENT WHICH WAS QUITE COMPARABLE TO A SAMPLE OF PATIENTS RELEASED FROM A 'TYPICAL' MENTAL HOSPITAL. ALTHOUGH THERE WERE SOME DIFFERENCES IN CHARACTERISTICS BETWEEN THE TWO GROUPS, THE CONSISTENCY AND SIMILARITY OF THE DATA INDICATE THAT THE PATIENTS WERE QUITE CAPABLE OF FAVORABLY ADJUSTING TO THE COMMUNITY LIVING PROVIDED FOR THEM. THIS CONCLUSIION IS QUITE CONSISTENT WITH OTHERS ARRIVED AT IN A LARGER FOLLOWUP STUDY. THE AUTHORS COULD FIND NO EVIDENCE THAT THESE ALLEGEDLY DANGEROUS PATIENTS WERE DISRUPTIVE AT THE CIVIL HOSPITAL TO WHICH THEY WERE TRANSFERRED, NOR WERE THEY EXCEPTIONALLY VIOLENT AFTER THEIR RELEASE FROM THE TRANSFER HOSPITAL. IT IS SUGGESTED THAT LONG-TERM CONFINEMENT IN MAXIMUM-SECURITY SETTINGS MAY WELL BE UNNECESSARY FOR THE CRIMINALLY INSANE. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED).