Public's Attitudes Toward Mentally Ill Offenders in Greece.

Mentally ill offenders constitute a vulnerable population group with unique characteristics, and have endured multiple public stigmatizations, which has not been sufficiently studied. The purpose of this study was to capture attitudes of the public toward mentally ill offenders in relation to their perceptions of mental illness in general, as well as their degree of familiarity with it. Our sample of 2059 people can be overall described as a men preponderance, married, with mean value age of 26 years, higher educational level, and medium or higher socio-economic status. Participants completed the ATMIO, CAMI, and Familiarity scales online. The total familiarity index value with mental illness was found to be 4.88, which counts as moderate to low. It was also concluded that women and those with a high educational level sustained more positive attitudes toward mentally ill offenders. However, negative stereotypes (with a mean value of 26.20), stigmatizing attitudes related to risk in the community (mean 16.10), and reduced responsibility for actions (mean 9.45) were recorded, while some (mean 16.50) showed compassion and emphasized on the mentally ill need of rehabilitation. The youngest people were the ones who recorded the most absolute and harsh attitudes. These findings validate the need of raising awareness and informing, especially, the young public about issues of mental health, including the need to oppose prejudices with everyday measures, which can be accessible to the new generation. Besides, we should extend research to various professional groups that come in contact with mentally ill offenders in order to collect data, which could contribute for intervening policies and formulating different sets of strategies for those people.

Evaluation of dangerousness of Greek mental patients.

There is a diachronic interest on the evaluation of the risk of violence by mental patients.Difficulties that have been underlined concern the definition of the term dangerousness and the different methods of approaching it. Accurate risk assessments are particularly important for psychiatric patients, with history of violence, in indoor care. The accuracy of predictions can better determine the patients designated as "at risk" for violence and avoid false designations. The aim of this study was to investigate the probability of patients, from several psychiatric units, to become violent after their discharge and over the next three years. We also investigate the predictive validity and accuracy of the HCR-20 in relation to post-discharge outcomes. Two hundred ninety five (295) psychiatric patients, from several psychiatric units, were assessed with the HCR-20, PCL: SV and GAF scales at discharge (using case file data, interviews with the patients and the clinicians of the units, and also information from the collateral informants) and were monitored for violent episodes over the following three years. The study was conducted in two phases: 1st phase: During the last week before discharge. 2nd phase: Every six months, over the following three years. Both the HCR-20 and PCL: SV scales and their subscales are significant predictors of readmission, suicide attempts and violent behavior. The GAF scale had a low positive correlation with the HCR-20 scale. A number of other variables such as duration of hospitalization, previous violent acts, diagnosis, gender, marital status, socioeconomic status, number of previous hospitalizations, were statistically related with failure of re-integration in the community. The results provide a strong evidence base that the HCR-20 is a good predictor of violent behavior in psychiatric patients, following their discharge from psychiatric wards in Greece, and hence can be used by clinicians in routine clinical practice.

[Change of atmosphere in patients' family after attending rehabilitation programs].

Contemporary research had confirmed the opinion that an unstable familial environment, with expressed negative affects of healthy members, contributes to negative prognosis of patients. Rehabilitation Programs can contribute to reverse this negative atmosphere in families of mentally ill patients. In own research have participated 48 patients and their carers from different settings in the Athens area. We used validated scales (Family Atmosphere Scale, Family Burden Scale and Family Rituals Scale). The measurement took place before and after the participation in the rehabilitation program. We had a 90% follow up rate. Family's climate, measured with all three scales, showed a statistically significant improvement after the end of the rehabilitation program. The burden was the same for mothers and fathers. The diagnosis and the previous therapeutic methods had an influence on the outcome. Current research verifies the positive outcome of rehabilitation programs in the overall improvement of family's atmosphere. Early or simultaneous provision of systemic therapy has a positive affect. Other variables like sex, age, education, profession, socioeconomic status, years of illness, hadn't any significant influence.