Why criminal behavior of chronic delinquents could be even strengthen after forensic treatment?

Abstract

The efforts of the formal system of government to achieve social reintegration of chronic offenders is reflected, inter alia, through the application of a large number of educational and training retrain and therapeutic treatment in penal institutions. However, they still do not give the desired results. So, in this paper we analyze the results of studies that investigate effects of various forms of forensic treatment on the criminal re-offend. It was found that, in this context, it is important to determine whether the offender has a psychological predisposition toward antisocial behaviour, and whether deviations are present which do not have the character of mental illness, but have the impact on stubbornly chronically maintaining delinquency. Based on the results of empirical data from the relevant studies and practical experiences of forensic therapeutic experts, it was found that some forms of treatment, including training for development social skills, life skills, and empathy, for certain categories of violent offenders, not only does not lead to the expected reduction of violence, but even at first glance, paradoxical result, as many as five times more frequent criminal recovery, compared to the same category of offenders who are not covered by treatment. When this tendency is particularly worrying that in these cases the victims are subjected to insidious attacks against and become more vulnerable because they are representatives of the criminal justice system misled the attackers to make treatment safer. The paper points out the possible reasons for such negative outcomes of treatment and is located contraindicated category form of forensic psychotherapy to the riskiest psychological profile. It was estimated that the usual methods of psychotherapy and mental needs advisory applied in clinical trials in patients unsuitable for delinquent population. It was concluded that any rehabilitation treatment must be designed in accordance with psychological characteristics of the target group and each individual delinquents. Beside that, it is necessary to ensure the continued education of representatives of the judiciary in this area, as order to prevent damage due to indiscriminate referral of offenders to treatment contraindicated.

Nastojanja formalnog sistema države da ostvari socijalnu reintegraciju hroničnih delinkvenata očituje se između ostalog i kroz primenu velikog broja edukativno-prevaspitnih treninga i terapijskih tretmana u penalnim ustanovama. Oni, međutim, još uvek ne daju željene rezultate, te su u ovom radu analizirani nalazi studija koje su se bavile istraživanjima efekata različitih vidova tretmana na kriminalni povrat. Utvrđeno je da je u tom kontekstu važno ustanoviti da li postoji psihološka predispozicija delinkventa ka antisocijalnom ponašanju, kao i to da li su prisutne devijacije koje nemaju karakter duševnog oboljenja, a utiču na to da se delinkvencija tvrdokorno održava. Na bazi rezultata empirijske građe iz relevantnih studija i iskustava stručnjaka u praktičnom forenzičkom terapijskom radu, ustanovljeno je da neki vidovi tretmana, uključujući i treninge za razvoj socijalnih i životnih veština i za razvijanje empatičnosti, kod pojedinih kategorija violentnih prestupnika, ne samo da ne dovode do očekivane redukcije nasilja, nego pak,na prvi pogled, paradoksalno rezultuju, čak pet puta češćim kriminalnim povratom, u poređenju sa istom kategorijom delinkvenata koji nisu obuhvaćeni tretmanom. Pri tom posebno zabrinjava tendencija da su u tim slučajevima žrtve izložene još podmuklijim atacima i da postaju vulnerabilnije jer su od strane predstavnika krivično-pravnog sistema dovedene u zabludu da će napadače tretman učiniti bezopasnijim. U radu je ukazano na moguće razloge ovakvih negativnih ishoda tretmana i locirana je kategorija kontraindikovanih formi forenzičkih psihoterapija za najrizičnije psihološke profile. Ocenjeno je da su uobičajene metode psihoterapijskog i savetodavno pedagoškog rada koje se primenjuju u kliničkim uslovima na pacijentima, neprikladne za delinkventnu populaciju. Zaključeno je da svaki rehabilitacioni tretman mora biti koncipiran u skladu sa psihološkim karakteristikama ciljne grupe i svakog pojedinačnog delinkvanta. Takođe je potrebno obezbediti kontinuiranu edukaciju predstavnika pravosudnih funkcija u ovom području, kako bi se prevenirale štete zbog neselektivnog upućivanja prestupnika na kontraindikovan tretman.