Offenders remanded for a psychiatric examination: perceived treatability and disposition.

One of the great debates in criminology and psychiatry is whether criminals should be viewed as mental health problems or whether they should be viewed as “bad.” Philosophical considerations aside, the question often becomes a practical one of whether or not offenders are modifiable or “treatable” using methods developed in psychiatric institutions. Some serious offenders, of course, do appear to suffer from severe “mental disorders” and, in Ontario, these have been treated primarily in the Oak Ridge maximum security Division of the Penetanguishene Mental Health Centre which is part of the Ontario Ministry of Health. Men who have been charged with an offence are sometimes remanded by the courts to a psychiatric facility in order to determine whether they should enter the correctional or mental health system. This decision is based upon a number of considerations: whether (a) the person is fit to stand trial, (b) he was insane at the time of the offence, (c) he is dangerous to others, and (d) he is treatable in a psychiatric institution. A recent Ontario study (Webster, Menzies, & Jackson, 1982) indicated that all of these questions were of considerable interest to provincial court judges. Psychiatrists and psychologists provide advice on these matters to the court which makes the final decision. Several points should be made about the foregoing description. In law, resolution of the first two issues determine whether the offender enters the health or correctional system. However, determination of the second two issues can importantly modify the offender’s disposition. For example, if the offender is viewed as not dangerous and as mentally ill, the charges may be dropped and he can be certified under the Mental Health Act of Ontario and admitted to a regional psychiatric facility. If the offender is viewed as treatable but culpable, he can be sentenced but receive a recommendation that he be treated in a mental health facility. In fact, even if the offender is sentenced without such a recommendation, he can later be transferred to a mental hospital by