Treatment and control: A qualitative study of older mentally ill offenders’ perceptions on their detention and care trajectory. Introduction Most Western European countries apply the legal principle of providing mandatory psychiatric treatment instead of incarceration for mentally ill offenders

This is a pre-print version of De Smet, S., Van Hecke, N., Verté, D., Broekaert, E., Ryan D. & Vandevelde, S. (2014). Treatment and control: A qualitative study of older mentally ill offenders’ perceptions on their detention and care trajectory. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, DOI: 10.1177/0306624X14521129 Abstract Background: The life of older mentally ill offenders is often characterized by successive periods of detention in correctional facilities, admissions to psychiatric services and unsuccessful attempts to live independently.