Unreasonable minds and imperfect self-defense.

Western legal systems recognize the right to self-defense as a right of individuals, under certain circumstances, to use physical force to defend themselves from an aggressor. This right requires an honest and reasonable belief of the person asserting it regarding the circumstances in which force is used. Some jurisdictions also permit a defense of imperfect self-defense, allowing for reduced culpability for the crime of homicide if a person's beliefs are honest but unreasonable.

A perspective review of cannabis use and sexual offenses.

Substance abuse is an established risk factor for crime and violence, including sexual violence. Nevertheless, the link between cannabis use and sexual offenses remains poorly understood. Cannabis use has a broad effect on sexual functioning and can have both acute and lasting adverse effects on psychological functioning, which in turn can elevate the risk of sexual offending behavior.

Evaluating conditional release in not guilty by reason of insanity acquittees: a prospective follow-up study in Virginia.

Detailed research on treatment and risk management approaches with not guilty by reason of insanity acquittees (NGRI) during their conditional release is needed as states increasingly use community-based services for these individuals. Grounded in case law, and supported by follow-up studies demonstrating low recidivism rates, states have been encouraged in their efforts to conditionally release NGRI acquittees. The authors evaluated a state-wide sample of 127 NGRI acquittees released into the community after spending a mean of 61.

Criminal justice system involvement among people with schizophrenia.

There is growing concern that people with schizophrenia and other severe mental illnesses are increasingly at risk for unnecessary criminal justice system (CJS) involvement. There has been limited examination, however, of which individual characteristics predict future CJS involvement. This study uses data from the Clinical Antipsychotic Trials of Intervention Effectiveness on sociodemograhic characteristics, baseline clinical status, and service use among patients diagnosed with schizophrenia to prospectively identify predictors of CJS involvement during the following year.

Predictors of arrest during forensic assertive community treatment.

Objective: An emerging adaptation of the assertive community treatment model is forensic assertive community treatment (FACT), which aims to prevent criminal recidivism. This study examined predictors of arrest among patients in a prototype program and considered the implications of study findings for future development of the FACT model.

Methods: Demographic and clinical data from all 130 patients treated in Project Link from 1997 through 2003 were merged with a statewide criminal record database to identify variables associated with arrest.

Risk of incarceration between cohorts of veterans with and without mental illness discharged from inpatient units.

Objective: This study examined the risk of incarceration among cohorts of veterans treated in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Connecticut Healthcare System. Incarceration rates of persons with and without mental illness were compared and adjusted for various clinical and service utilization variables. Data were compared before and after the closure of over 80% of the Connecticut VA psychiatric inpatient beds in 1996.

Legal fallacies of antipsychotic drugs.

Advances in the biological sciences have dramatically improved the understanding of schizophrenia and related psychotic illnesses. One of the most compelling findings is the substantial degree to which cognition is impaired in these illnesses and the remedial effects that antipsychotic drugs have in treating these cognitive impairments. Despite these promising discoveries, legal cases and scholarship remain replete with pejorative associations with antipsychotic drug action.

Variations in mental health courts: challenges, opportunities, and a call for caution.

Mental health courts have quickly proliferated in the United States and represent an attempt to expand legal leverage and enhanced treatment access to select persons with severe mental illness who are also involved in the criminal justice system. A national survey of mental health courts has begun to elucidate the procedural, clinical, and operational aspects of these courts and the defendants they adjudicate. A secondary analysis of survey data was performed to determine the similarities and differences among these courts.

A retrospective examination of outpatient commitment in New York.

Outpatient commitment (OC) is a growing trend in mental health treatment. The impetus for this movement has been partly due to the public perception that some mentally ill outpatients are prone to violence as result of poor treatment compliance. Numerous studies have shown that poor treatment compliance is associated with increased hospitalization, substance abuse, homelessness, and contact with the criminal justice system.

Efficacy and tolerability of low-dose donepezil in schizophrenia.

There have been many advancements in the pharmacologic treatment of schizophrenia; however, negative symptoms and cognitive impairment remain an intractable part of this illness. Donepezil is an anticholinesterase inhibitor with cognitive enhancing effects approved for the treatment of Alzheimer disease that has shown some benefit in the treatment of schizophrenia. In this study, 15 inpatients at a state hospital with a history of schizophrenia were administered donepezil in a randomized, double-blind, crossover design.