Does mental health treatment reduce recidivism among offenders with a psychotic illness?

Prison inmate health surveys consistently show high proportions of prisoners have mental health problems; however, scholarly opinion is divided on the contribution of mental illness to offending. Some contend that mental illness is not a cause of offending and that mental health treatment will not reduce offending. Others maintain mental health treatment can reduce the risk of offending among persons with a significant mental illness. In this article we report the results of a rigorous evaluation of the effectiveness of mental health treatment in reducing offending amongst a cohort of defendants with a diagnosis of psychosis. We find evidence that the provision of mental health treatment to defendants with a psychotic illness does significantly reduce the risk of further offending.

Automated summary

Surveys of prison inmates consistently show high proportions of prisoners with mental health problems, but there is divided scholarly opinion on the contribution of mental illness to offending. Some argue that mental illness is not a cause of offending, while others believe that mental health treatment can reduce the risk of offending among those with significant mental illness. This article presents findings from a rigorous evaluation showing that mental health treatment for defendants with psychosis diagnosis significantly reduces the risk of reoffending.