Forensic ‘medium security’ projects: registration of incidents during treatment of forensic psychiatric patients of the Commission of Social Defense Ghent
Research concerning forensic medium security units in Flanders is scarce. This study reports on incidents during treatment. The population consisted of 203 forensic patients conditionally released by the Commission of Social Defense (CPS) of Ghent. During a ten-year follow-up period 236 incident reports were registered, caused by half of the population (53.20%). Less than half of these reports (41.53%) concerned incidents coded as criminal offences (like drug use, theft or violence). Violent incidents occurred in one out of five reports (20.34%) and were associated with poor treatment compliance and failure. Victims of violence were mainly hospital staff or patients. Incidents were reported to the prosecutor, but rarely led to a new conviction or internment. Instead, one third of the population was (re)incarcerated in prison. Protection, rather than treatment, thus seems to be the primary focus of the CPS.