Abstract

In Germany, short leave is an integral part of treatment in forensic psychiatric hospitals. It is believed that the practice has many benefits for patients’ well-being and their treatment progress. However, the risk of an incident in the form of absconding or new offenses may be especially heightened during unsupervised short leave. This study analyzes the impact of unsupervised short leave on treatment progress using a pre-post design with follow-up and a sample of 298 forensic psychiatric patients. Furthermore, incidents on short leave were considered in the analysis. The results of the study suggest that unsupervised short leave can foster treatment progress. However, they also reveal that incidents during leave can disrupt the progress of treatment.

摘要

在德国，短期休假是法医精神病医院治疗的一个组成部分。人们相信这种做法对患者的健康和治疗进展有很多好处。然而，在无人监管的短暂休假期间，发生潜逃或新犯罪事件的风险可能会特别高。本研究采用前后随访设计，以 298 名法医精神病患者为样本，分析了无人监管的短期休假对治疗进展的影响。此外，分析中还考虑了短期休假事件。研究结果表明，无人监督的短期休假可以促进治疗进展。然而，他们也透露，休假期间发生的事件可能会扰乱治疗进度。