Antisocial behaviors and substance abuse among mentally illoffenders - an undesirable role in time of treatment?

Abstract: Introduction Offenders who suffer from a severe mental illness are sentenced to forensic-psychiatric careinstead of imprisonment. A severe mental illness is a legal term determined by type anddegree of the psychiatric illness. Forensic-psychiatric care ends when signs of severe mentalillness is no longer present. Antisocial behaviors and mental illness due to substance abuse isnot regarded as severe by law but can arguably delay discharge from care. Aim To investigate whether time in treatment for offenders sentenced to compulsory forensicpsychiatriccare is prolonged by a propensity for substance abuse and antisocial behaviors. Methods Extended §7-evaluation dictums from 2017 have been reviewed. Data concerning substanceabuse and antisocial tendencies was assessed to assort offenders in two subgroups with lowestdegree contra highest degree of additional problematic behaviors. The two subgroups andtime in treatment collected through the Swedish National Forensic Psychiatric Register wascombined in a Kaplan-Meier estimator through SPSS. Results Median time in treatment for offenders with highest degree of additional problematic behavioras in substance abuse and or antisocial tendencies was 1048 days (range 1075). Since nodischarge has occurred, median time to discharge could not be estimated. Median time todischarge for offenders with lowest degree of additional problematic behavior was 760 days(range 532). Conclusions The study could not find time in treatment among severe mental ill offenders to be longer foroffenders with additional substance abuse and or antisocial characteristics of crime in relationto offenders without.