Treatment in Transition: The Role of Mental Health Correctional Facilities

• NCJ Number: 168334
• Journal: Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice Volume: 13 Issue: 3 Dated: (August 1997) Pages: 264-278
• Author(s): R Scott; T O'Connor
• Date Published: 1997
• Length: 15 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Program/Project Description
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

The Larned Mental Health Correctional Facility in southwest central Kansas is used as an example for outlining the difficulties faced by mental institutions devoted to offender treatment and processing while under correctional care.

Abstract

The Larned facility provides a complete range of traditional psychiatric inpatient-type programs for inmates of the Kansas Department of Corrections. Mental health services include group and individual counseling, activity therapy, and music therapy. Specialized groups such as anger management are also offered. The facility will also provide remedial education and preparation components for the general equivalency diploma to those who desire these services. A number of conclusions can be drawn from this review of the Larned experience and existing literature regarding theory and practice at other similar institutions. Treatment programs must be specialized and individualized, and attempts to replicate generic treatment programs do not necessarily translate successfully from one situation to another. Procedures for defining mentally ill persons in need of treatment are often imprecise, as are decisions regarding who should "cure" these persons and when these persons are "cured." Successful mental health programs require an integrated approach to multiple counseling techniques, depending on individualized criteria. Counseling in a group or shared setting with others having similar maladies is imperative, and the involvement of family in the healing process is critical. Anger management therapy requires structured mental health treatment procedures in which the individual can realize the self-destructiveness inherent in aggressive and violent behavior. Similar to anger management, treatment of sexual disorders requires highly personalized, rigorous, and intensive treatment options in a structured, disciplined environment. A success rate of more than 50 percent (no return to the Larned facility) is competitive to good relative to successes of psychiatric-service recipients in other corrections settings as well as those in other settings. 2 tables and 36 references