Vivienne de Vogel, Petra Schaftenaar and Maartje Clercx
Continuity of forensic mental health care is important in building protective structures around a patient and has been shown to decrease risks of relapse. Realising continuity can…
Abstract
Purpose
Continuity of forensic mental health care is important in building protective structures around a patient and has been shown to decrease risks of relapse. Realising continuity can be complicated due to restrictions from finances or legislation and difficulties in collaboration between settings. In the Netherlands, several programs have been developed to improve continuity of forensic care. It is unknown whether professionals and clients are sufficiently aware of these programs. The paper aims to discuss this issue.
Design/methodology/approach
The experienced difficulties and needs of professionals and patients regarding continuity of forensic care were explored by means of an online survey and focus groups. The survey was completed by 318 professionals. Two focus groups with professionals (15 participants), one focus group and one interview with patients (six participants) were conducted.
Findings
The overall majority (85.6 percent) reported to experience problems in continuity on a frequent basis. The three main problems are: first, limited capacity for discharge from inpatient to outpatient or sheltered living; second, collaboration between forensic and regular mental health care; and, third, limited capacity for long-term inpatient care. Only a quarter of the participants knew the existing programs. Actual implementation of these programs was even lower (3.9 percent). The top three of professionals’ needs are: better collaboration; higher capacity; more knowledge about rules and regulation. Participants of the focus groups emphasized the importance of transparent communication, timely discharge planning and education.
Practical implications
Gathering best practices about regional collaboration networks and developing a blueprint based on the best practices could be helpful in improving collaboration between setting in the forensic field. In addition, more use of systematic discharge planning is needed to improve continuity in forensic mental health care. It is important to communicate in an honest, transparent way to clients about their forensic mental health trajectories, even if there are setbacks or delays. More emphasis needs to be placed on communicating and implementing policy programs in daily practice and more education about legislation is needed Structured evaluations of programs aiming to improve continuity of forensic mental health care are highly needed.
Originality/value
Policy programs hardly reach professionals. Professionals see improvements in collaboration as top priority. Patients emphasize the human approach and transparent communication.
Details
Keywords
S. de Valk, G. H. P. van der Helm, M. Beld, P. Schaftenaar, C. Kuiper and G. J. J. M. Stams
Violence is a common problem in secure residential units for young people. Group workers often think that young people have to learn to behave by means of punishment. The purpose…
Abstract
Purpose
Violence is a common problem in secure residential units for young people. Group workers often think that young people have to learn to behave by means of punishment. The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether this approach is effective in these settings, and, if so, under what circumstances. Furthermore, it aims to provide alternatives to punishment when dealing with violence.
Design/methodology/approach
Recent evidence on the effectiveness of punishment in secure residential units is reviewed. In addition, methods which are promising in dealing with violence are described.
Findings
The review shows that punishment is often used to regain control by group workers or, alternatively, is a result of professional helplessness in the face of escalating problems. Only when the living group climate is marked by trust and cooperation can punishment be effective.
Originality/value
Punishment in secure residential settings can have severe negative consequences. Nevertheless, group workers are tempted to use it as a response to violence in an attempt to gain control.
Details
Keywords
Lucy Reading and Gareth E. Ross
The purpose of this paper is to explore the social climate of therapeutic wings and mainstream wings within one prison, to identify positive areas of social climate that can be…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the social climate of therapeutic wings and mainstream wings within one prison, to identify positive areas of social climate that can be built upon and areas for improvement.
Design/methodology/approach
In total, 1,054 social climate questionnaires (the Essen Climate Evaluation Schema – EssenCES) were sent to prisoner-facing staff and all prisoners within an English Category B prison holding indeterminate sentenced prisoners. Perceptions of social climate on therapeutic wings and mainstream wings and perceptions of social climate between staff and prisoners were compared.
Findings
The results showed that the therapeutic wings felt safer, there were better staff-prisoner relationships and there was better peer support among prisoners than people on the mainstream wings. Also, prisoners felt safer than staff, staff rated the overall social climate as more positive than prisoners and staff felt that they supported prisoners, but prisoners did not feel the same.
Research limitations/implications
The main limitation is that the EssenCES measure does not explain the participants’ ratings of the social climate.
Practical implications
There is a need to transfer the principles and values of therapeutic wings to mainstream wings. In addition, there is significant room for improvement in the social climate of this prison.
Originality/value
This is the first study to compare the social climate of therapeutic and mainstream wings within one single prison. The research has a valuable contribution to the development of positive social climates conducive to better clinical outcomes.
Details
Keywords
There is an increased focus on making prison cultures more rehabilitative, with clear evidence that certain environmental characteristics contribute towards rehabilitation. To…
Abstract
Purpose
There is an increased focus on making prison cultures more rehabilitative, with clear evidence that certain environmental characteristics contribute towards rehabilitation. To date, limited research has explored the rehabilitative culture in a high security prison. This study aims to measure staff and prisoner ratings of social climate and their levels of hope in such an establishment.
Design/methodology/approach
The research adopted a quantitative approach, using the EssenCES and State Hope Scale. Data was analysed using parametric and non-parametric tests to explore correlations/relationships between variables.
Findings
Findings indicated that higher ratings of social climate were associated with higher levels of hope. Staff rated the social climate more favourably than prisoners, and Category B prisoners had higher levels of hope than Category A prisoners. No significant correlation was found between length of time in service or custody and ratings of social climate or hope.
Practical implications
This paper highlights the importance of developing a positive social climate and hope, supporting the rehabilitative culture initiatives.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the limited literature on social climate and hope within UK forensic settings. Furthermore, reliability testing indicates the State Hope Scale is appropriate for use with a UK forensic population, extending its application.
Details
Keywords
G. van Beek, Vivienne de Vogel and Dike van de Mheen
Little is known about effective supervision of offenders with debt. This multiple case study aims to gain insight into working elements in offender supervision on debt. This is…
Abstract
Purpose
Little is known about effective supervision of offenders with debt. This multiple case study aims to gain insight into working elements in offender supervision on debt. This is important for probation officers to choose the most effective interventions in daily offender supervision.
Design/methodology/approach
This study included five best practice cases based on both interviews with involved professionals and clients and client file information. One case was described in detail to illustrate what probation officers and clients encounter when working on debt. All five cases were analyzed thematically using pattern matching techniques and crosscase syntheses on debt background, current supervision, barriers and working elements.
Findings
Organization processes and lack of aftercare hinder effective supervision. Close collaboration with other professionals (e.g. debt counselors) is important in supervising clients with debt. The client’s own behavior and motivation for supervision are crucial in the success of debt supervision and can be both hindering and effective. Working elements in supervision depend on personal characteristics of professionals involved and on the extent to which elements of a working alliance, particularly trust and bonding, are built.
Practical implications
Support and facilitation from probation organizations regarding primary conditions and collaboration, training professionals in methods of stimulating clients motivation and an effective working alliance are essential to supervise clients with debt adequately.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no other in-depth study has yet been conducted on working elements in supervision of probationers with debt.
Details
Keywords
This study aims to investigate the effects of mineral rents, conflict and population growth on countries' growth, with a specific interest in 13 selected economies in Sub-Saharan…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the effects of mineral rents, conflict and population growth on countries' growth, with a specific interest in 13 selected economies in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper uses a combination of research methods: the pooled ordinary least squares (OLS), the fixed effect and the system generalized method of moment (GMM). The consistent estimator (system GMM), which provides the paper's empirical findings, remedies the inherent endogeneity bias in the model formulation. The utilized panel dataset for the study spans from 1980 to 2022.
Findings
The study suggests that mineral rents positively affect countries' growth by about 0.407 percentage points in the short run. The study further demonstrates the long-run negative impacts of population growth rates and prevalence of civil war on economic growth. The empirical work of the study reveals that an increase in the number of international borders within the group promotes mineral conflicts, which impedes economic growth. Evidence from the specification tests performed in the study confirmed the validity of the empirical results.
Social implications
Mineral rents, if well managed and conditioned on good institutions, are a blessing to an economy, contrary to the assumptions that mineral resources are a curse. The utilization of mineral rents in Sub-Saharan Africa for economic growth depends on several factors, notably the level of mineral conflicts, population growth rates, institutional factors and the ability to contain civil war, among others.
Originality/value
This study is the first attempt in the post-coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) era to revisit the investigation of the impacts of mineral rents, conflict and population growth rates on the countries' growth while controlling for the potential implications of the qualities of institutions. One of the significant contributions of the study is the identification of high population growth rates as one of the primary drivers of mineral conflicts that impede economic growth in the states with enormous mineral deposits in Sub-Saharan Africa. The crucial inference drawn from the study is that mineral rents positively impact countries' growth, even with inherent institutional challenges, although the results could be better with good institutions.
Details
Keywords
The purpose of this article is to analyse the literature of chemoinformatics, a subject that has arisen over the last few years and that draws on techniques from a range of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to analyse the literature of chemoinformatics, a subject that has arisen over the last few years and that draws on techniques from a range of disciplines, most notably chemistry (particularly computational and medicinal chemistry), computer science and information science.
Design/methodology/approach
Discusses subject, author and citation searches of (principally) the web of knowledge database.
Findings
The Journal of Chemical Information and Modeling (previously the Journal of Chemical Information and Computer Sciences) is the core journal for the subject, but with many significant papers being published in journals whose principal focus is molecular modelling, quantitative structure‐activity relationships or more general aspects of chemistry. The discipline is international in scope, and many of the most cited papers describe software packages that play a key role in modern chemoinformatics research.
Originality/value
This is the first bibliometric study of chemoinformatics, and one of only a very few that consider the bibliometrics of computational chemistry more generally.