Contact between offenders and caregivers/service providers (FOR-CON)

How can the concerns and needs of care and service providers be incorporated into quality and accessible practice? Flemish care and service provision in residential institutions is in the process of being phased out. Instead, the aim is to maximise the integration of care recipients into society. This transition also applies to the care and reintegration pathways of forensic (psychiatric or otherwise) clients. Consequently, more and more care and service providers within an ever-increasing diversity of sectors come into contact with such litigants. However, exactly which care professionals and service providers are involved has never been investigated. Nor is it known in what way they experience these contacts and what questions and concerns they may or may not have. About paedophilia and drug-related offences, for instance, it is well known that they can negatively affect the quality of the professional relationship and can even hinder the flow opportunities in the care pathway of litigants. This research aims to provide practice-based answers to the concerns of anyone who comes into professional contact with litigants. Respect for both the position of professionals and litigants is central to this. - In a first phase, the study examines who the professionals are who come into contact with litigants and identifies their experiences, needs and suggestions. - A second phase focuses on practice-oriented support aimed at improving the working conditions, training and guidance of professionals. - In a third phase, the results and conclusions will be tested with a representative group of litigants and the practical support offered to professionals will be adjusted and supplemented.

Keywords:forensic care

Disciplines:Psychiatry and psychotherapy not elsewhere classified

Project type:Service project