Centre for Mental Health

Centre comments on new research into the prevalence of mental ill health among the probation caseload

31 August 2011

New evidence produced by the University of Lincoln (Brooker et al 2011) has shown what many in the justice system have long suspected. Rates of mental ill health among the probation caseload are very similar to those of the prison population, and as in prison much of this poor health is unrecognised, untreated and makes their rehabilitation all the more difficult.

The report found that more than a quarter of offenders in contact with probation said they currently had a mental illness. One in seven had a mood disorder and one in five had an anxiety disorder. Some eight per cent had a psychotic illness: about eight times the national average. About half had the symptoms of a personality disorder; more than half had the signs of hazardous or harmful alcohol consumption; and 12 per cent had the signs of serious drug misuse. The researchers found that 60 per cent of those with a mood or anxiety disorder were not receiving any treatment. Only half of those with a current psychosis were receiving any support from mental health services. And while 88 per cent of those with a drug problem were receiving treatment for this, the proportion getting help fell to only 40 per cent of those with serious alcohol problems.

Commenting on the research, Centre for Mental Health Chief Executive Sean Duggan said:

"These high rates of poor health and untreated illness reinforce the need for urgent action to implement the Government’s pledge to extend effective diversion arrangements to all police stations and courts in England and Wales over the next four years. Liaison and diversion services at their best are able to identify people at the earliest opportunity when they come into contact with the justice system. They are able to screen for a range of difficulties including not just mental ill health but drug or alcohol problems, learning disabilities and speech and communication difficulties: all of which may not just have affected their offending but which will have a big impact on their ability to cope with the justice system and their chances of successful rehabilitation. Diversion services are then able to inform decision-making by the police, the CPS and the courts, potentially avoiding lengthy delays for psychiatric reports later in the judicial process. And, importantly, good diversion services will ensure that the right forms of support are offered and that individuals whose lives can be complex and chaotic are properly linked with services before ‘letting go’ of them."

"Probation services have the potential to offer a robust alternative to short prison sentences for the many thousands of offenders with mental health difficulties who are currently being imprisoned for lack of a reliable alternative. With the support of the NHS, they can make much more use of the Mental Health Treatment Requirement of the Community Order, for example. This is currently used in just one per cent of such sentences despite the high levels of mental ill health that exist among offenders."