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Psychopathy Treatment and the Stigma of Yesterday’s Research 1
Published in Fritz Allhoff, Sandra L. Borden, Ethics and Error in Medicine, 2019
Mirroring a growing sentiment among researchers, this contribution argues that the untreatability view about psychopaths is medically erroneous due to insufficient support of scientific data. Moreover, the aggregate of recent research appears to paint a comparatively more optimistic picture of psychopaths’ response to psychiatric intervention. Such a perspective, if reasonable, raises novel ethical concerns expedient to the field of forensic psychiatry; for example, whether the clinical narrative and forensic practice concerning psychopathy meets the ethical standards for proper psychiatric professionalism. Speaking to this suspicion, new cautionary directions for future practices and research are discussed.
Psychiatry: ethics and the law
Published in Ben Green, Problem-based Psychiatry, 2018
Forensic psychiatry concerns itself with the actions of the mentally disordered or retarded that bring them into conflict with the law. ➣ What psychiatric services are available to such people?➣ What happens in criminal law to people who commit serious crimes but are thought to have serious mental illness?➣ What are the prevalence rates for severe mental illnesses in UK prisons?
Introduction
Published in John C. Gunn, Pamela J. Taylor, Forensic Psychiatry, 2014
Forensic psychiatry is often regarded simply as that part of psychiatry which deals with patients and problems at the interface of the legal and psychiatric systems. Several definitions of it exist, partly reflecting its complexity. The definitions have a common core, but each highlights some special aspect of the work. The Royal College of Psychiatrists (2010) emphasizes working with others to assess, manage and treat people with mental disorders associated with offending and dangerous behaviour, and that recognition as a specialist in forensic psychiatry follows from specialist training which builds on more general psychiatric training. The American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law (AAPL) (2005) says: Forensic Psychiatry is a subspecialty of psychiatry in which scientific and clinical expertise is applied in legal contexts involving civil, criminal, correctional, regulatory or legislative matters, and in specialized clinical consultations in areas such as risk assessment or employment.
Patients’ Experiences of Participation in High-Security, Forensic Psychiatric Care
Published in Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 2022
Andreas Söderberg, Märta Wallinius, Christian Munthe, Mikael Rask, Ulrica Hörberg
Forensic psychiatry provides care for patients with severe mental disorders, many of whom have committed some kind of violent crime (Buchanan & Grounds, 2011). Patient participation is regulated in law in the Swedish healthcare system, including forensic psychiatric care, and it is the duty of all healthcare staff to strive to achieve this (Swedish Patient Act; SFS, 2014, 821). This actualises what is known as the ‘dual role dilemma’ in professional ethics for clinical staff in forensic psychiatric settings, as the patients’ desires, need of care and staffs’ attempts to constrain patients, based on safety and considerations of policies in the criminal justice system, may conflict in numerous ways (Miller, 1990; Munthe et al., 2010). Against this background, the present study focuses on patients’ views on patient participation in high-security forensic psychiatric care.
eHealth Technology in Forensic Mental Healthcare: Recommendations for Achieving Benefits and Overcoming Barriers
Published in International Journal of Forensic Mental Health, 2020
Hanneke Kip, Kira Oberschmidt, Joyce J. P. A. Bierbooms
The following set of recommendations focuses on several ways to improve the effectiveness and/or use of technologies. The sub-codes belonging to this main code are defined and illustrated in Table 9. Participants pointed out that technology should be constantly improved and recommended that, in order to achieve this, it is important to have up-to-date knowledge about innovations elsewhere, such as artificial intelligence or robotics. Trying out combinations of technologies was also recommended, such as virtual reality and neurofeedback. This underlines the importance of a broader, more holistic view of technology. Participants suggested that another way to further improve eHealth technology was to ground these technologies in existing, evidence-based theories from different domains. Furthermore, adapting existing technologies to fit specific types of forensic psychiatric patients was recommended, since this is more efficient than creating an entirely new technology.
Carers of Long-Stay Patients’ Perspectives of Secure Forensic Care: An Exploratory Qualitative Study
Published in International Journal of Forensic Mental Health, 2019
Stephanie Sampson, Sheena Foster, Shazmin Majid, Birgit Völlm
Research has highlighted how carers of forensic patients, in particular, experience anxiety about their relatives due to lack of understanding about mental health issues and forensic services (Absalom-Hornby, Gooding & Tarrier, 2011; Canning, O'Reilly, Wressell, Cannon, & Walker, 2009). It has also been suggested that carers of forensic patients experience greater stress, burdens, and dissatisfaction with communication and interactions between healthcare staff than their non-forensic carer counterparts (Ferriter & Huband, 2003; MacInnes & Watson, 2002; Tsang, Pearson, & Yuen, 2002). This is, in part, due to greater stigma associated with criminality, and the complexity of the legal-medical framework forensic psychiatry operates within (which can involve the police and the judicial system) and the stresses associated with navigating through complicated forensic services of varying security level (Völlm & Clarke, 2018). Ridley et al. (2014), in a study focusing on forensic carers, acknowledged elements contributing towards the emotional burden of carers. Conflicting demands of providing secure care to patients, respecting confidentiality and involving carers in a meaningful way may present an obstacle for service providers in meeting the different needs of both carers and patients alike in the context of long-term secure care.