RESUMO
AIMS: This study aims to examine the influence of ethnic origin on the range of diagnoses, past psychiatric and forensic contacts, and outcome of final court appearance in a random sample of men remanded in Brixton prison health care centre for a psychiatric assessment. METHOD: 277 men were randomly sampled from all men to HMP Brixton and referred to prison health care centres for a psychiatric assessment over a one year period. Men were interviewed immediately after remand to establish their socio-demographic profiles, their psychiatric diagnoses, alcohol and substance misuse histories, criminality, seriousness of index offence and violence involved in their index offence, past psychiatric and forensic contacts and outcome after court appearance. CONCLUSIONS: In this sample, a greater percentage of black men who were remanded in custody had a diagnoses of schizophrenia. They were remanded despite more stable housing and fewer criminal convictions than the white group. Custodial remands could be avoided if community services (psychiatric diversion) were especially sensitive to the needs of black men with severe mental illness.(AU)