title: Reconviction and revocation rates in Flanders after medium security treatment.
abstract: To examine the criminal outcome of Flemish forensic psychiatric patients ('internees') after medium security treatment. Also, the effect of conditional release on recidivism of two subgroups (internees under conditional release and internees who received unconditional release) was examined.
  
  
  
  Reconviction rates and revocation rates were collected for all participants. Kaplan-Meier survival analyses were used to investigate recidivism rates while controlling for time at risk.
  
  
  
  During the 10-year period, 502 offenders were discharged from medium security treatment. Over a follow-up period averaging 3.6years, 7.4% of discharged patients were reconvicted or received a new 'not guilty by reason of insanity' (NGRI) verdict for a violent offence. One-quarter of the population had their conditional release revoked. Part of the study population was granted unconditional release. Reconviction rates were higher after unconditional release in comparison to conditional release.
  
  
  
  The results of this study suggest that the court supervision of NGRI patients in Flanders is effective in protecting the community from further offending.
authors.affiliation: Knowledge Centre Forensic Psychiatric Care (KeFor) OPZC Rekem, Rekem, Belgium. Electronic address: inge.jeandarme@opzcrekem.be.
authors.forename: Inge
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Jeandarme
authors.affiliation: Knowledge Centre Forensic Psychiatric Care (KeFor) OPZC Rekem, Rekem, Belgium. Electronic address: Petra.habets@opzcrekem.be.
authors.forename: Petra
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Habets
authors.affiliation: Department of Criminal Law, Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands. Electronic address: T.I.Oei@uvt.nl.
authors.forename: T I
authors.initials: TI
authors.lastname: Oei
authors.affiliation: School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Developmental Psychology, Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands; KARID, Fivoor, The Netherlands; FPC, Gent, Belgium. Electronic address: S.Bogaerts@uvt.nl.
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bogaerts
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001530:Belgium; D003134:Commitment of Persons with Psychiatric Disorders / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D003617:Dangerous Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007298:Insanity Defense / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009934:Organization and Administration; D010351:Patient Discharge / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010359:Patient Readmission / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011329:Prisoners / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055502:Secondary Prevention; D012637:Security Measures / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D014754:Violence / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Conditional release; Forensic psychiatric patients; Medium security treatment; Mental health supervision; Recidivism