UNDERSTANDING MENTALLY DISORDERED OFFENDERS
WELFARE AND SOCIETY STUDIES IN WELFARE POLICY, PRACTICE AND THEORY
Welfare and Society is an exciting series from the University of Wales Swansea Department of Social Policy and Applied Social Studies in conjunction with Ashgate, concerned with all aspects of social welfare. The series publishes works of research, theory, history and practice from a wide range of contemporary applied social studies subjects such as Criminal Justice, Child Welfare, Community Care, Race and Ethnicity, Therapeutic and Intervention Techniques, Community Development and Social Policy. The series includes extended research reports of scholarly interest as well as works aimed at both the academic and professional communities.
Submission and review policy
Extended works normally between 50,000 and 80,000 words will be considered from both academics and practitioners. Shorter works may be considered for edited volumes on particular subjects. All submissions will be considered by the editorial board and in some cases external reviewers. Works will be judged on both their technical merit and their relevance to contemporary social welfare. Authors will be expected to provide Camera-ready copy to the publishers guidelines.
Editorial Board
Matthew Colton, PhD
Kevin Haines, PhD
Tim Stainton, PhD
Anthea Symonds, PhD
Other books in the series
Partnership between Parents, Children and Local Authorities: Margaret Williams
Understanding Modern Juvenile Justice: Kevin Haines
Child Welfare Professionals and Incest Families: Ingrid Thompson-Cooper
Stigma and Social Welfare: An International Comparative Study: Matthew Colton, Ferran Casas, Mark Drakeford, Susan Roberts, Evert Scholte and Margaret Williams
For information or submissions contact Dr Tim Stainton, Applied Social Studies, University of Wales Swansea, Singleton Park, Swansea, Wales, SA2 8PP
Understanding Mentally Disordered Offenders
A multi-agency perspective
ANTHONY COLOMBO
Institute of Criminology
University of Cambridge
First published 1997 by Ashgate Publishing
Reissued 2018 by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, 0X14 4RN
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
Copyright Anthony Colombo 1997
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Notice:
Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
Publishers Note
The publisher has gone to great lengths to ensure the quality of this reprint but points out that some imperfections in the original copies may be apparent.
Disclaimer
The publisher has made every effort to trace copyright holders and welcomes correspondence from those they have been unable to contact.
A Library of Congress record exists under LC control number: 97072079
ISBN 13: 978-1-138-35994-9 (hbk)
ISBN 13: 978-0-429-43339-9 (ebk)
Contents
The purpose of this study is to understand and clarify the nature of implicit theories currently held about distinct types of psychopathological and criminal behaviour by respondents who represent a range of agencies: the general lay population (students and politicians), Criminal Justice (police), Mental Health (mental health practitioners) and Social Services (social workers and probation officers).
The study is in the form of a factorial experimental survey design employing the mail questionnaire data gathering technique. Semi-structured interviews were also carried out in order to provide supplementary qualitative data.
Of the four case vignettes used in the experimental design, two described the key symptomalogical behaviour underlying the condition of paranoid schizophrenia and two referred to the behavioural symptoms commonly associated with depressive psychosis. Each of these vignettes were further manipulated through the inclusion or otherwise of a criminal offence condition. The surveys measuring instrument, which was answered after reading a single case vignette, examined the three main scientific theories used to explain various psychopathological states (medical (organic), moral (cognitive-behavioural) and psychosocial) along several dimensions (aetiology, behaviour, treatment, function of the hospital, prognosis, rights and duties of both the patient and society) and was constructed specifically for the study.
Factor analysis, performed on the questionnaire data obtained from the overall sample of 961 respondents, revealed three underlying principal components: sick role, medical-control and social-treatment. Using these implicit paradigms as a baseline, a multi-way analysis of variance demonstrated highly significant differences (p<0.01) in perception across the studys main treatment (type of mental disorder, type of criminal offence) and socio-demographic variables (age, gender, group surveyed and previous experience of the mentally ill).
The results are discussed in terms of each multi-agency groups approach towards the various treatment conditions as well as the theoretical and practical implications these findings may have at both a criminological and clinical level. Directions for future research are also considered.
The success of this research depended a great deal on the co-operation and help of several organisations and individuals. In particular, I would like to thank the Cambridgeshire Police Constabulary, Cambridgeshire Probation Service, Addenbrookes NHS Trust and Peterborough District Hospital. Within these organisations, special thanks should go to Chief Inspector Terry Early and Sergeant Andy Gallichan (Police Constabulary, Parkside Division); Andy Smith and Mark Richards (Cambridge Probation Service); Graham Badger (Health Team Area Manager, Addenbrookes NHS Trust) and Laurie Fentimen (Health Team Area Manager, Peterborough District Hospital); Linda Davies, Mary Coburn, Paul Smartt, Bennie Darky and Mary Donoghue (Clinical Staff Line Managers at Addenbrookes District and Fulbourn Psychiatric Hospitals), and Maureen Fry (Secretary at the Department of Forensic Psychiatry, Addenbrookes Hospital).
With regard to the production of the actual book, I would like to thank Dr. Adrian Grounds (Honorary Consultant in Forensic Psychiatry) who, despite heavy work commitments, found the time to offer many helpful suggestions throughout the course of this research; Dr. Trevor Bennett and Dr. Jackie Scott, for listening to my ideas on how to structure and make sense of both the methodological and data analyses, and for offering helpful advice on possible approaches.
I would also like to place on record a very special debt of gratitude to Tisha Hugg whose administrative skills and general help were invaluable all the way through the production of this book. Finally, a big thanks to my wife Jitka for her constant help and support.
