NCJ Number
80289
Journal
Ugeskrift for Laeger Volume: 139 Issue: 11 Dated: (March 14, 1977) Pages: 671-681
Date Published
1977
Length
11 pages
Annotation
Data on 84 mentally ill offenders, half of whom were in custody, and all of whom were being treated at the Institution in Herstedvester (AH) are examined.
Abstract
AH is a prison with psychiatric leadership functioning under Danish criminal law designed for observation and treatment of persons with psychiatric complaints in custody and serving sentences. During the study period (1971-74), it was observed that the number of patients in custody showed a tendency to increase, partly because of the doubling in psychiatric sanctions. Analysis of the data reveals several other factors that may explain why mentally ill persons are interned in a prison. These include the two contradictory tendencies of normalization, in which the basis for observation and treatment of offenders presumes that the offender is normal, and nonnormalization, in which the basis for treatment is the deviation itself. In addition, mentally ill offenders are institutionalized because of the requirements for legal security which cannot be met by psychiatric departments. Other factors are that in certain cases among the group of persons in custody, mental observation may have been omitted simply on account of its prolonging effect and that AH willingly accepts persons with all types of psychiatric complaints from the other institutions under penal law. Tables and six references are provided. An English summary is provided. (Author summary modified)