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Date: April 29, 2024 Mon
Time: 8:47 pm
Time: 8:47 pm
Results for mentally ill (u.k.)
1 results foundAuthor: Pettitt, Bridget Title: At Risk, Yet Dismissed: The criminal victimisation of people with mental health problems Summary: Background Public perception is that people with mental health problems are offenders, and historically, policy, research and clinical practice has focused on the risk they pose to others. However, in recent years a body of work has explored the victimisation of people with mental health problems and the impact it has on them. This study was designed to understand experiences of victimisation and engagement with the criminal justice system among people with mental health problems. The main questions the study sought to answer were: - What proportion of people with severe mental illness had been a victim of violent or non-violent crime in the past year, and how does that compare to the general population? - What are the barriers and facilitators for people with mental health problems, who have been victims of crime, in reporting crime, progressing through the criminal justice process, and accessing support? The study was conducted in two main parts, a quantitative survey and qualitative interviews and focus groups. The survey used a modified version of the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) with a random sample of 361 people with severe mental illness (SMI) using community mental health services in London. The findings from this sample were compared with those from the general population who took part in the CSEW survey over the same time period in London. We also gained information from clinical notes, and professionals involved in the participants' care.(See appendix 1 for details). For the qualitative research we interviewed 81 individuals who had mental health problems and had been victims of crime in the last three years. The profile of these interviewees was slightly different, with a broader range of mental health problems, and a third were not using community mental health services. The interviews explored their experience of crime, its impact and their engagement with the criminal justice system. We also conducted focus groups and individual interviews with 30 relevant professionals from a range of different backgrounds including police officers and mental health care coordinators. Experience of crime The findings of the survey showed that people with mental health problems experienced high rates of crime, and were considerably more likely to be victims of crime than the general population. - Forty-five percent of people with severe mental illness (SMI) were victims of crime in the past year. - One in five people had experienced a violent assault; a third were victims of personal crime and a quarter were victims of a household crime. - People with SMI were five times more likely to be a victim of assault, and three times more likely to be a victim of household crime, than people in the general population, after taking into account sociodemographic differences. Women were 10 times more likely to be assaulted. - They reported very high rates of sexual and domestic violence, with 40% of women reporting being a victim of rape or attempted rape in adulthood, and 10% being a victim of sexual assault in the past year. - Victims with SMI were up to four times more likely to be victimised by their relatives or acquaintances than those from the general population. - Nine percent of the victims described crimes in psychiatric inpatient settings. Impact of crime It took two months to recover from [being assaulted] because I was having nightmares and stuff and I was finding it hard to sleep as well. Int21, male, assault] Compared to victims who did not have mental health problems, victims with SMI were more likely to suffer social, psychological and physical adverse effects as a result of the crime, and were more likely to perceive the crime as serious. The impact of domestic or sexual violence was particularly serious with 40% of women and a quarter of men who experienced this having attempted suicide as a result. In the qualitative interviews, participants explained how being a victim of crime affected many aspects of their lives including: their financial and material situation; personal relationships and behaviour; physical health; housing situation; emotional well-being; and mental health. The most common negative effect of crime was on their emotional well-being. Many described their mental health deteriorating as a result, with some individuals going into crisis and being admitted into hospital. Risk factors One of the aims of this study was to find out who, among people with SMI, was most at risk. We found there were three key risk factors: less engagement with services, drug misuse and a history of being violent. Compared to those with good service engagement, people with medium and poor engagement had a five-fold and seven-fold higher risk of victimisation respectively. Drug misuse and violence perpetration were associated with a two to three-fold higher victimisation risk which is similar to those reported in the general population in other published studies. The perceived association between mental health and victimisation In the qualitative interviews, many participants felt that having a mental health problem was a factor in their victimisation. They gave examples of perpetrators picking up on visible signs of vulnerability and distress, and known perpetrators preying on them when they were unwell and less able to protect themselves. Some felt perpetrators targeted them because they understood that people with mental health problems are more easily discredited and commonly disbelieved when they report. A few said they felt perpetrators were motivated by hatred and hostility towards their mental health status. The nine participants victimised in psychiatric inpatient wards described the environment as unsafe and a place where they felt both under threat from staff and other patients as well as less able to access other sources of help. The survey supported this sense of people being targeted for their identity, where 37% felt the incident was motivated by their identity and 25% felt this was specifically because of their mental health status. Details: London: Victim Support and Mind, 2013. 84p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 6, 2013 at: http://www.victimsupport.org.uk/~/media/Files/Publications/ResearchReports/1390_MHJR_final_lores.ashx Year: 2013 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.victimsupport.org.uk/~/media/Files/Publications/ResearchReports/1390_MHJR_final_lores.ashx Shelf Number: 131596 Keywords: Mentally Ill (U.K.)VictimizationVictims of Crime |