Assertive community treatment and associations with delinquency.
This article draws on a prospective longitudinal study in which Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) model fidelity and patient outcomes were assessed in twenty outpatient treatment teams. 530 severely mentally ill patients participated in the study. Delinquency outcomes were assessed three times during a two-year follow-up period. At baseline, 49% of the patients had a recent criminal history, meaning that they had at least one reported contact with the police and/or the justice system in the past year. Patients with a recent criminal history had more serious psychosocial problems at baseline compared to those without a recent criminal history. Delinquency outcomes showed improvement over time, but this was not associated with ACT model fidelity. The study shows an association for homelessness and criminal activity. The persistent criminal activities of some of the patients showed that for this group extra interventions are needed that specifically target reduction of criminal behavior.
Department of Reintegration, Trimbos Institute, Netherlands Institute of Mental Health and Addiction, PO Box 725, 3500 AS Utrecht, The Netherlands. Electronic address: mvugt@trimbos.nl.
Maaike D
MD
van Vugt
Department of Reintegration, Trimbos Institute, Netherlands Institute of Mental Health and Addiction, PO Box 725, 3500 AS Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Hans
H
Kroon
Mental Health Services Research & Development, Maastricht University, PO Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands. Electronic address: ph.delespaul@sp.unimaas.nl.
Philippe A E G
PA
Delespaul
Department of Psychiatry, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Electronic address: c.l.mulder@erasmusmc.nl.
Cornelis L
CL
Mulder
D000328:Adult; D003156:Community Mental Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003415:Crime / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D009426:Netherlands; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011446:Prospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome
Assertive community treatment; Delinquency; Model fidelity; Outcome assessment; Psychosocial problems; Severe mental illness