A pilot study of assessed need and service use of offenders and frequent offenders with mental health problems

Abstract

Background: Present research lacks a comprehensive approach to studying co-morbidity of traits, problems, and needs among mental health and offending populations.

Aim: To establish whether mentally disordered offenders have more care needs and/or use more services than mental health patients or offenders.

Methods: Case-linkage methods were used to analyse anonymized records of populations in contact with multiple agencies in one English county for a three-year period. Logistic regression and non-linear canonical correlation were used to detect differences and service use characteristics and establish profiles of heavy service users.

Results: (A) Mental health was significantly associated with offending and prolific offending. (B) Males and youngsters were over-represented among offenders, prolific offenders, and probationers. Over-representations were weaker among the mentally disordered sectors of these offending populations. (C) Offenders, prolific offenders, and probationers used services in disproportionate numbers. However Mentally Disordered Offenders used less services than expected from mentally disordered individuals' higher propensity to use services. (D) Among this group, those with non-acquisitive crime and complex psychological and social problems, were more likely to have mental health problems identified by probation officers.

Conclusions: Population studies can provide a detailed picture of mentally disordered offenders' complex service needs.

Declaration of interest: The authors have no conflict of interest.

Keywords:

• Mentally disordered offenders
• service demands
• offenders' profiles
• case-linkage methods

Notes

1 Percentages of use across agencies do not add to 100, because individuals may have contacted more than one agency.

2 None of the effects shown in Table II change significantly when adding interactions, except for contact with drug agencies, which is even higher among mental health patients than estimated in Table II.

3 The significance was established by adding appropriate interaction effects (in this case between gender and age, and offender) to Model 1. The interactions were all significant.

4 See note 3.

5 See note 3.