[Treatment and Recidivism of Patients Convicted for Homicide After Release From a Forensic Psychiatry for Addiction...

The forensic clinic for addiction treatment in Rostock is a forensic institution for patients who committed crimes under the influence of psychotropic substances. Regardless of the severity of the offence, patients receive different kinds of treatment depending on the therapy program. Criminal recidivism can be seen as one of the most important factors to validate success in treatment. Due to this purpose, an extensive recidivism study including all former patients from 2001 to 2012 was conducted at our clinic. The criminal court records as well as clinic-intern databases of 38 patients for whom homicide is the offence of referral and 38 patients with nonviolent crimes were analyzed for this study. The general recidivism rate for homicide delinquents was 47.7 %, but only 21 % of the examined patients were convicted to a new prison sentence. 7 homicide patients and 8 of the nonviolent group didn't finish the therapy successfully. Alcohol dependency was more common among the homicide patients. In addition, the average IQ was significantly lower than the comparison group. Compared to the nonviolent patients, homicide delinquents also got registered with a greater proportion of violent crimes during their criminal career.