Follow-up after Release of Insanity Acquittees, Mentally Disordered Offenders, and Convicted Felons

• NCJ Number: 125414
• Author(s): M I Cohen, S B Silver, M K Spodak
• Date Published: January 1989
• Length: 14 pages
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored

Annotation

This article presents descriptive findings of a study of the fate of three cohorts of prisoners in the State of Maryland: insanity acquittees, mentally disordered prisoners transferred for inpatient psychiatric treatment, and group of convicted felons.

Abstract

Subjects were followed from 5 to 17 years after discharge from hospital or release from prison regarding subsequent arrests, hospitalizations, employment, and daily functioning. At 5 years post release, 54.3 percent of the insanity acquittees, 65.4 percent of the prisoner control group, and 73.3 percent of the mentally disordered prison transfers were rearrested. At 17 years post release, rearrest rates increased to 65.8 percent, 75.4 percent, and 78.4 percent respectively. Significantly more mentally disordered prison transfers than NGRI's were rehospitalized during the follow-up period. Overall, the prison transfers had significantly poorer outcomes on nearly all variables compared with the other two groups. Although there were a substantial number of rearrests among insanity acquittees, this group had a statistically significantly lower rate of criminal activity compared with the other two groups of offenders. 20 references, 7 tables, 1 figure. (Author abstract modified)