The impact of risk assessment on criminality

The prison population rises steadily, partly due the downscaling of forensic secure psychiatric institutions as a result of the flat funding available to the NHS. Overcrowding and inadequate health services – particularly mental health services in prison –lead to worsening mental health and lead to higher identification of morbidity in prisons

• Increased demand for specialist workforce
• Shift of settings of care from secure forensic psychiatric sites to prison

Proposed workforce impact

• Increased demand for specialist workforce
• Shift of settings of care from secure forensic psychiatric sites to prison

Sources or references

• Berman, (2012), Prison population statistics, Commons Library Standard Notes, SN04334 Birmingham, (2004), Mental disorder and prisons, The Psychiatrist, 28, 393-397
• Sailas et al., (2005), Mental disorders in prison populations aged 15-21, British Medical Journal, 330, 1364

Additional research questions

• With the increasing prison population, what strategies are in place to provide appropriate specialist care?

Some of the information in this section is provided by stakeholders and expert groups, and does not necessarily represent the views of the CfWI.