Reintegrating seriously violent and personality-disordered offenders from a supermaximum security institution into the general offender population.
Offenders who have committed serious violent acts while incarcerated are often segregated and housed in supermaximum security facilities. Given the highly restricted regime under which they are detained, it is often difficult to decide if they are safe enough to be discharged. However, there is a need to reintegrate them into the general offender population in a lower security institution for humane, correctional, and financial reasons. We propose a transitional strategy to facilitate their reintegration by way of a maximum-security step-down treatment-oriented facility within which both their security requirements and treatment needs could be adequately met. The present study reports the results of such an approach. More than 80% of the offenders (n = 31) were reintegrated into a lower-security facility without relapsing and being returned to the supermaximum institutions within a follow-up period of 20 months. They also have lower institutional offense rate postreintegration compared to prereintegration.
Wong
Stephen C P
SC
Regional Psychiatric Centre, P.O. Box 9243, 2520 Central Avenue, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, S7K 3X5, Canada.
Veen
Sarah Vander
SV
Leis
Timothy A
TA
Parrish
Heather
H
Gu
Deqiang
D
Liber
Elizabeth Usher
EU
Middleton
Heather L
HL
D000328:Adult; D000987:Antisocial Personality Disorder / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D015897:Comorbidity; D003617:Dangerous Behavior; D005260:Female; D006778:Hospitals, Psychiatric; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D008875:Middle Aged; D010043:Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care; D010343:Patient Admission; D010360:Patient Transfer; D011329:Prisoners / Q000523:psychology*; D011330:Prisons; D011613:Psychotherapy; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012525:Saskatchewan; D012637:Security Measures; D012931:Social Environment; D012951:Socialization; D014754:Violence / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology