Effectiveness of forensic outpatients' psychiatric treatment and recidivism rates: A comparison study

Abstract

It was previously shown that forensic outpatient psychiatric treatment lowers recidivism and improves mental health. However, there is no data specifically from Switzerland, a fact that has been repeatedly criticized by local policymakers in the course of healthcare planning. The present study aimed to describe two groups of mentally ill offenders referred to a Swiss forensic outpatient clinic, namely those accepted for treatment and those who were left untreated because their treatment was rejected. The recidivism rates of the two groups were then compared, to determine whether differences in recidivism rates between the two groups might be related to socio-demographic characteristics and mental health. Finally, improvements regarding general functional level and severity of psychopathology were evaluated over the course of time. A total of n = 131 mentally ill offenders were studied. After an average time at risk of 42.6 months, our preliminary results show that 18% of those accepted for treatment relapsed into delinquent activities, while 38% of the rejected offenders did so. We found no sociodemographic variable that differentiated between reoffenders in the two samples. Likewise, the prevalence of personality disorders was similar in the two groups. Regarding comorbidity, the combination of any substance abuse disorder and any personality disorder was more prevalent in the treated sample. Over the course of therapy, the treated group showed improvements regarding their general functional level and the severity of their psychopathology. This is the first study to explore the effects of therapeutic outpatient treatment of mentally ill offenders on Swiss recidivism rates.