Populations, practices, and problems in forensic psychiatric facilities.

This is a study of the public facilities to which mentally disordered offenders are committed or transferred so that they may be securely confined while simultaneously participating in programs designed for treatment of their mental disorders. The study focuses principally on the nature and characteristics of these facilities: their patient populations, staff, security conditions, treatment programs, and operational programs. We identified and surveyed 231 facilities. The information from the survey, legal research, and site visits to 11 programs has been integrated and used to address four major issues: the types of facilities mentally disordered offenders are institutionalized in for treatment of their mental disorders; the legal, diagnostic, and demographic characteristics of the residents of these facilities; the forms of treatment and levels of staffing available in these facilities; and the common problems faced by facility administrators with respect to facility management, treatment, and release decisions.