The purpose of this Act of the Scottish Parliament is to add public safety to the grounds for not discharging certain patients detained under the Mental Health (Scotland) Act 1984; to provide for appeal against the decision of the sheriff on applications by these patients for their discharge; and to amend the definition of 'mental disorder' in that Act.
This episode of Radio 4's Thinking Allowed series includes a segment on the way in which unwanted acts can become crimes. The relationship between levels of crime and fear of crime continues to exercise academics and policy makers alike. The question is asked if soaring prison populations accurately reflect the former or the latter. Laurie Taylor is joined by Nils Christie, Professor of Criminology at the University of Oslo, who argues that crime is a product of cultural, social and mental processes.
This Act of Scottish Parliament covers intermediate diets and how they relate to arrest warrants. An intermediate diet is a hearing set by a court, in summary criminal proceedings, for the purpose of ascertaining, so far as is reasonably practicable, whether the case is likely to proceed to trial on the date assigned as a trial diet. If an accused does not appear as required for an intermediate diet, the court may grant a warrant for his or her arrest.
This short paper briefly summarises the case for the development of a new paradigm for social work with offenders drawn from reviews of 'desistance' research that is, from studies that explore the processes by which offenders stop offending.
The Mental Health Treatment Requirement (MHTR) of the Community Order can be given to offenders in England who have an identified mental health problem and have consented to receiving readily available treatment. This paper lays out what is known so far about the MHTR and further areas for investigation concerning its operation.
Report on the inspection of the assessment and management offenders who present a high risk of serious harm by SWIA, HMICS and HMIP.
Report providing a profile of the population detained in medium and high secure hospitals in England. It also considers issues such as are forensic services an appropriate form of diversion and would social, community-based, interventions be more appropriate and cost-effective?
Report assessing the case for diversion for offenders with mental health problems from a value for money viewpoint. It concludes from the evidence that well-designed arrangements for diversion have the potential to produce many benefits such as cost and efficiency savings within the criminal justice system and improvements in mental health.
Section of the UK Parliament website holding the House of Commons Home Affairs Select Committee's report on knife crime, it's causes, consequences and what can be done to reduce and prevent it.
This site outlines the strategic initiative to raise the level of public debate about the use of prison and alternative forms of punishment in the UK.