Social Interaction Related to the Functioning of Forensic Psychiatric Inpatients

ABSTRACT

The major aim of the treatment of forensic psychiatric patients is to reduce risk of future violence by means of a positive change in the factors associated with the offence. In this article, we argue that information on patients' social network patterns and the content of their relationships provide detailed information about relational behavior that can be an important complement of information on behavior provided by the traditional psycho-diagnostics. We use data on networks of 60 patients in five Terbeschikkingstelling groups and investigate how their relations are associated with three domains of risk-related psychosocial functioning; problem awareness, impulse control, and skills. All three domains were found to be associated with relational patterns, impulse control, and skills showing the strongest associations.

KEYWORDS:

• forensic psychiatry
• social networks
• patients' functioning
• personality disorder
• inpatients

Notes

³ The four dynamic HKT items that apply only to a subset of the patients (psychotic symptoms, substance abuse, acculturation problems and sexual preoccupation) were excluded.