NCJ Number
147180
Date Published
1993
Length
222 pages
Annotation
This report examines the effectiveness of the Dutch penal measure that commits mentally ill offenders to a forensic mental hospital (TBS order).
Abstract
The study only addresses the form of TBS in which intramural nursing care is enforced. Issues examined in the study are the extent to which the TBS order is effective, its aims, and the extent to which the aims are realized. An analysis of the entire TBS process focuses on what decisions are made, by whom, and with what consequences. Forty male former TBS patients who were admitted to the Dr. Henri van der Hoeven Kliniek were selected for study. Twenty of the patients had left the hospital during 1980 through 1984. Twenty of them left the hospital on probationary leave, and another 20 left without probationary leave after the judge did not extend their TBS against the hospital's advice. Instruments used in the study were the code lists for the collection of basic and crime data, the case descriptions, the questionnaire for the assessment of the case descriptions, and the questionnaire for the interview with the ex-patients. The four occupational groups that assessed the cases were judges, lawyers, behavioral experts, and therapists. Apparently the TBS order has resulted in some positive changes for many ex-patients. Probationers appeared to do better than nonprobationers regarding treatment effects, prospects, and recidivism. The study recommends some improvements in the enforcement of the TBS order. A gradual transition from intramural treatment to extramural treatment is emphasized. 6 tables and 152 references