[A descriptive study of psychiatric care and pre-sentencing psychiatric reports in a French high-security prison]

Abstract

Context: The high prevalence of psychiatric disorders among people in prison is well documented, and several hypotheses have been proposed to explain this overrepresentation. In France, the decrease in the number of people found by the judge to be not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder after a psychiatric expertise could play a crucial role. The Château-Thierry prison is a high-security correctional facility where prisoners whose integration into a "standard" prison is complicated because of behavioural problems, reside. We conducted the first study to describe the judicial and healthcare trajectories of people incarcerated in this facility.

Method: All the people incarcerated in the Château-Thierry prison between May and September 2019 were included in this cross-sectional study. In addition to sociodemographic characteristics, data on the psychiatric care before and during incarceration as well as information on the judicial and prison history were collected. We also analyzed all the pre-sentencing psychiatric reports in order to collect the degree of discernment determined by the psychiatrist expert for each included individual.

Results: Sixty-eight (97%) of the 70 people detained at the Château-Thierry prison during the study period were included and 92 pre-sentencing psychiatric reports were analyzed. The population studied was exclusively male, with an average age of 40 years, low socio-economic status and frequent criminal history (79%). About half of them (46%) had already been hospitalized in a psychiatric community hospital prior to incarceration, and 79% have been hospitalized in a psychiatric facility during their incarceration. Disciplinary sanctions were frequent (72%) as well as convictions for offenses committed while in prison (57%). When at least one pre-sentencing psychiatric report was carried out (29 persons had a single psychiatric forensic evaluation and 27 ones had multiple evaluations), at least one psychiatric expert had concluded to a diminished (but not lack of) criminal responsibility in almost half of the cases (44%).

Conclusion: This study shows the extent to which people incarcerated in the Château-Thierry prison are affected by psychiatric disorders. It also highlights the difficulties of coping with the prison environment for people suffering from psychiatric disorders. Finally, it raises the question of the lack of diversion programs for the individuals in France with mental health problems whose responsibility has been considered as full or diminished.

Keywords: Diminished criminal responsibility; Expertise psychiatrique pré-sentencielle; Irresponsabilité pénale; Lack of criminal responsibility; Milieu carcéral; Parcours de soins; Pre-sentencing psychiatric report; Prison environment; Psychiatric care; Psychiatric expertise; Troubles psychiatriques.