Observational Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Psychiatry. May 19, 2024; 14(5): 726-734
Published online May 19, 2024. doi: 10.5498/wjp.v14.i5.726
Need for education of psychiatric evaluation of offenders with mental disorders: A questionnaire survey for Japanese designated psychiatrists
Akihiro Shiina, Tomihisa Niitsu, Masaomi Iyo, Chiyo Fujii
Akihiro Shiina, Masaomi Iyo, Division of Medical Treatment and Rehabilitation, Chiba University Center for Forensic Mental Health, Chiba-shi 2608670, Japan
Tomihisa Niitsu, Masaomi Iyo, Department of Psychiatry, Chiba University Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba-shi 2608670, Japan
Chiyo Fujii, Department of Community Mental Health & Law, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Kodaira-shi 1878553, Japan
Author contributions: Shiina A, Niitsu T, and Fujii C designed the research study; Shiina A, Niitsu T, and Iyo M performed the research; Shiina A analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript; all authors have read and approve the final manuscript.
Supported by Research Project of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan.
Institutional review board statement: The study was reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee of Chiba University Graduate School of Medicine (Approval No. 1145, Dec 14, 2020).
Informed consent statement: This study is an anonymous questionnaire survey. Therefore, we did not gather any personal information of the participants. Participants were considered to have provided informed consent to participate in the study when they returned the answer sheet.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors declare no potential conflicts of interest concerning the research, authorship, or publication of this manuscript.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement—checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement—checklist of items.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Akihiro Shiina, MD, MSc, PhD, Professor, Division of Medical Treatment and Rehabilitation, Chiba University Center for Forensic Mental Health, Inohana 1-8-1, Chuo-ku, Chiba-shi 2608670, Japan. shiina-akihiro@faculty.chiba-u.jp
Received: February 15, 2024
Revised: April 5, 2024
Accepted: April 11, 2024
Published online: May 19, 2024
Processing time: 91 Days and 0.7 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND

The management of offenders with mental disorders has been a significant concern in forensic psychiatry. In Japan, the introduction of the Medical Treatment and Supervision Act in 2005 addressed the issue. However, numerous psychiatric patients at risk of violence still find themselves subject to the administrative involuntary hospitalization (AIH) scheme, which lacks clarity and updated standards.

AIM

To explore current as well as optimized learning strategies for risk assessment in AIH decision making.

METHODS

We conducted a questionnaire survey among designated psychiatrists to explore their experiences and expectations regarding training methods for psychiatric assessments of offenders with mental disorders.

RESULTS

The findings of this study’s survey suggest a prevalent reliance on traditional learning approaches such as oral education and on-the-job training.

CONCLUSION

This underscores the pressing need for structured training protocols in AIH consultations. Moreover, feedback derived from inpatient treatment experiences is identified as a crucial element for enhancing risk assessment skills.

Keywords: Forensic psychiatry; Administrative involuntary hospitalization; Psychiatric assessment; Risk assessment; Mental disorders; Training protocols; Clinical practice; Structured learning; Feedback mechanisms; Program development

Core Tip: In this study, we clarified that many Japanese psychiatrists rely on traditional learning approaches such as oral education and on-the-job training for learning risk assessment skills. Some structured training protocols as well as feedback derived from inpatient treatment experiences are needed for improving skills of practitioners engaging in administrative involuntary hospitalization.