engleski

Treatment by the Court - sent by who, who for and delivered by whom?

Currently, the court can order a person who committed a violent crime to go to psychosocial treatment. This kind of treatment is lead by a psychiatrist, psychologist, social pedagogue and social worker. The judge himself/herself decides who will go to such a treatment, without consulting a mental health specialist. The aim of this study was to determine who sends people for a psychosocial treatment due to the violent crime to the University Psychiatric Hospital Vrapče, and whether these people had some psychiatric disorder or not. We analyzed data of referred people/patients in the time frame of one year (September 1st 2017 till August 31st 2018). Data analyzed were: who sent these patients (Minor offence court, Probation office or Municipal court), and what psychiatric disorders were diagnosed (if any). Results showed that total of 236 people were referred for the treatment. Of those, 91.9% were referred by a Minor offence court, 5.1% by Probation office and 2.1% by Municipal court. Of those referred, 135 (57.2%) actually came for the treatment. Of these who came, the percentage of mental disorders were as follows: 52.6% alcohol dependence, 0.9% psychotic disorder, 4.6% personality disorder. It can be concluded that of all the people who were referred for psychosocial treatment, 35.2% percent were diagnosed as having some serious mental disorder. As people with serious mental disorder, they should have never been referred for a psychosocial treatment, but for a psychiatric treatment. This calls for action, specifically the change of Criminal Code that allows judges to send a person in the treatment without psychiatric evaluation.

psychosocial treatment ; violent crimes ; mental disorder

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