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. 2024 Feb 5:14:1217561.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1217561. eCollection 2023.

Mandatory substance use treatment for justice-involved persons in Germany: a systematic review of reoffending, treatment and the recurrence of substance use outcomes

Jack Tomlin  1 , Esther Meise  2 , Juliane Wegner  3 , Birgit Völlm  2
Affiliations

Mandatory substance use treatment for justice-involved persons in Germany: a systematic review of reoffending, treatment and the recurrence of substance use outcomes

Jack Tomlin et al. Front Psychiatry. .

Abstract

Many jurisdictions implement mandatory substance use treatment for justice-involved persons. Germany is one such country; however, debates about the appropriateness and effectiveness of this disposal abound. Very little attention has been paid in the international literature to patients receiving mandatory treatment in Germany. This systematic review synthesises research on patients receiving substance use treatment in forensic hospitals under §64 of the German Penal Code with regard to three primary outcomes: treatment completion, reoffending, and the recurrence of substance use. Forty-five publications reporting on 36 studies were reviewed; publication dates ranged from 1988 to 2023. On average, 47% of patients did not successfully complete treatment, compared to 45% who did. Average follow-up reconviction rates were higher than in mentally ill and general offender populations as reported elsewhere. Approximately half of all patients reused substances during treatment. Suggestions for future research, including a focus on strength- and recovery-based indicators, and harmonising routine outcomes measurements, are given.

Keywords: Germany; forensic mental health; mandatory treatment; reoffending; substance use disorder.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
PRISMA flow diagram for initial search (updated search reported in section 2.2).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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