Treating Mentally Ill Offenders in an Inpatient Setting

Abstract

Adverse childhood experiences, such as abuse, neglect and household dysfunction have been linked to negative adult outcomes. These outcomes include psychiatric disorders, poor psychosocial functioning, homelessness, substance abuse and incarceration. Unfortunately, individuals with mental health problems may find themselves arrested for misdemeanors such as trespassing, alcohol and drug related charges, disorderly conduct or other less serious charges. If a person is determined to be psychiatrically unstable, they may be held in jail while waiting for a psychiatric evaluation, waiting for a hospital bed, or for transportation to a psychiatric hospital for treatment. Situations arise that in which a person’s sentence is completed, but the court determines that they are not ready to live in the community because of actions that occurred while incarcerated, or because of the charges that resulted in incarceration. These offenders are then released to a psychiatric hospital for treatment to prepare them for community reintegration. When this cohort is sent to an inpatient setting involuntarily it makes treatment very challenging. It is essential for community reintegration and decarceration that we gain an understanding of how to successfully treat mentally ill offenders when they are moved from a criminal justice setting into an alternate treatment setting involuntarily. This paper will consider difficulties that may arise and suggest treatment alternatives to reach this cohort when retained in an inpatient setting.