| Unit.D.3.3.
Court Diversion Projects/Community Correctional Services |
[Unit.B.3.5.]
[Unit.D.3.5.]
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Australia |
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Canada |
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International |
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United Kingdom |
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"Community
is an ill defined concept which is difficult to delineate
but has a popularist interpretation of being 'anywhere/everywhere
outside of a hospital'" (Bachrach & Lamb 1989;
Beale, Davies, Nixon & Smith, 1993) (Mason & Mercer,
1996, p. 157).
"Forensic
nursing needs to recognize the community as a point of professional
convergence and the site of therapeutic surveillance"
(Mason & Mercer, 1996, p. 159).
"There is
a small, but growing, body of specialist forensic community
nurses who are beginning to focus attention on their role
in caring for mentally abnormal offenders" (Mason &
Mercer, 1996, p. 157).
"Moon (1993)
expands the Forensic Community Psychiatric Nurse (FCPN)
role to include such aspects as the assessment of risk that
relates to violence and criminal offending, assessing exhibited
criminal or other anti-social behaviour, and liaison with
solicitors, police, probationary services and forensic resources"
(Mason & Mercer, 1996, p. 157).
"The role
of the forensic community psychiatric nurse has received
only scant attention in the professional literature (Chaloner
& Kinsella, 1992), any critical appraisal has been even
more neglected" (Mason & Mercer, 1996, p. 159).
"Court diversions
schemes are quite well established in the UK now, with many
having Community Mental Health Nurses fulfilling the role.
By and large these nurses are paid at the same rate as their
colleagues in other roles. In many areas these staff are
not employed by the forensic services but by the local mental
health services. This is seen as having an advantage in
maintaining ownership of the client group with the local
services rather than forcing people into a forensic ghetto"
(personal communication, Andrew McGleish, Jan, 12, 2000).
"Some of
the schemes involve the CMHNs visiting the police stations
as well as the magistrates courts. I am aware of some schemes
where the CMHN is actually based at the police station.
A interesting issue arose in one of the schemes I am aware
of when the local psychiatrists refused to take referrals
from the nurse, not ostensibly because of any professional
rivalry but because such a referral would not attract any
fee. The solution was that the nurse had to advise the person's
lawyer to contact the psychiatrist thus ensuring the payment
of a nice juicy fee" (personal communication, Andrew
McGleish, Jan, 12, 2000).
"Care in
the community has been evolving in Britain since the late
1950's. The Percy Commission (1957) and the Mental Health
Act (1959) led to a liberalization of psychiatric practice,
de-emphasis on locked wards, a decrease in institutionalized
care and a shift towards patient civil rights and the process
of normalization" (O'Rourke, Hammond & Davies,
1997, p. 104).
"Provision
of comprehensive diversion services for the mentally disordered
who come into conflict with the law offers benefits for
patients and all those involved in the process, including
the police, crown prosecution service and other agencies.
It gives access to the most appropriate disposal for this
vulnerable group.
This case study,
who had multiple contacts with the diversion services in
Birmingham illustrates the particular difficulties associated
with diversion from custody for mentally disordered individuals,
particularly where there are multiple problem areas. Examination
of the case suggests that in spite of interagency commitment
to the philosophy of diversion sometimes a period spent
in custody is unavoidable" (Riordan & Wix, 1999,
p. 23).
"The first psychiatric liaison scheme was set up in 1988, at the instigation of a probation
officer. In 1989, the Home Office wrote to all criminal justice agencies and department of
health asking them to cooperate in developing court liaison schemes. There are now
60 such schemes in operation. In addition to these court liaison schemes, the government
has now increased the funding for bail hostels, enabling more of the mentally disordered to
be diverted from prison custody" (Wool, 1995).
United States |
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"New York's
city jails and New York States Prison Systems alone hold
approximately 89,000 people at any one time, many of whom
have mental health problems. Some 20,000 to 25,000 people
in New York state alone with mental problems are released
to the community each year" (Storey, Woods, Bradshaw,
& Landsberg, 1999, p. 371).
Focus Points
Reference
| Mason, T.
& Mercer, D. (1996). Forensic psychiatric |
nursing:
Vision of social control. Australian and New
Zealand Journal of Mental Health Nursing, 5,
153-162.
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| O'Rouke,
M.M., Hammond, S.M. & Davies, E.J. (1997). |
Risk
assessment and risk management: The way forward.
Psychiatric Care, 4 (3), 104-106.
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| Riordan,
S. & Wix, S. (1999). Diversion of mentally ill |
offenders-
to what and where? The British Journal of Forensic
Practice, 1(3), 23-26.
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D - Forensic Corrections > Section D.3.0. Forensic Systems/Services
> Unit.D.3.3. Court Diversion Projects/Community Correctional
Services
