What Works for Forensic Psychiatric Patients: From Treatment Evaluations to Short and Long-Term Outcomes, Volume II

About this Research Topic

Background

This is the second volume of the Research Topic 'What Works for Forensic Psychiatric Patients: From Treatment Evaluations to Short and Long-Term Outcomes'. Please see the first volume here.

Forensic psychiatric care treats mentally disordered offenders. These patients suffer mainly from psychotic disorders, although co-morbidities such as personality disorders, neurodevelopmental disorders, and substance abuse are common. They have all committed criminal acts, of which a majority are violent. Their caregivers’ mission is thus complex: not only to rehabilitate the patient, who is treated involuntarily, but also to consider his or her risk for re-offending in the process of reintegration to society.

Treatment research in forensic psychiatry is challenging in many ways. The patients suffer from severe conditions, and many clinicians would resist jeopardizing their patients’ health when participating in a study. Co-morbidity is common, which is a known obstacle to treatment trials. In addition, many patients have impaired insight into their illness, which, together with the involuntary nature of the care, poses great ethical challenges to the introduction of research in the care of this patient group.

Notwithstanding, there is currently an urgent need for more research on forensic psychiatric care. Recent reviews have identified gaps of knowledge in all forensic psychiatric domains relevant to the treatment of its patients.

Contributors to this Research Topic are welcome to present not only high-quality effect studies of pharmacological, psychological, or psychosocial interventions in mentally disordered offenders, but also reviews and longitudinal outcome studies. This may help define a best practice and form new guidelines in the care of this highly vulnerable and costly group of patients.

Keywords: forensic psychiatry, offenders, rehabilitation, violence, ethics

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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