Violent Behavior During Psychiatric Inpatient Treatment in a German Prison Hospital

  • Peter Seidel
  • Norbert Konrad
  • Vincent Negatsch
  • Dora Dezsö
  • Ilona Kogan
  • Ulrich Gauger
  • Britta Neumann
  • Alexander Voulgaris
  • Annette Opitz-Welke

Abstract

Violent behavior in correctional facilities is common and differs substantially in type, target, implication, and trigger. Research on frequency and characteristics of violent behavior in correctional facilities and psychiatric hospitals is limited. Results from recent research suggest that comorbidity of severe mental disorder, personality disorder, and diagnosis of substance abuse is related to a higher risk of violent behavior. In the Berlin prison hospital, a database was created to collect data from all violent incidences (n=210) between 1997 and 2006 and between 2010 and 2016. In a retrospective, case-control study, we analyzed specific socioeconomic data and psychiatric diagnosis and compared the group of prisoners with violent behavior with randomly selected prisoners of the same department without violent behavior (n = 210). Diagnosis of schizophrenia, non-German nationality, no use of an interpreter, no children, and no previous sentence remained significantly associated with the dependent variable violent behavior. There were no significant differences regarding age and legal statuses. Practical implications for clinical work are discussed.

Bibliographical data

Original languageEnglish
ISSN1664-0640
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2019

Comment Deanary

Copyright © 2019 Seidel, Konrad, Negatsch, Dezsö, Kogan, Gauger, Neumann, Voulgaris and Opitz-Welke.