Strengths-Based Perspectives on Supporting People with Mental Illnesses or Intellectual Disabilities Who Have Offended
A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Health Care Sciences & Services".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2020) | Viewed by 4102
Special Issue Editors
Interests: strengths-based approaches; special needs education; persons who have offended; mental illness; intellectual disability
Interests: criminal justice; penology; vulnerable persons; persons with mental illness who offended
Interests: special needs education; family members of persons who have offended; social network; social support; family (group) therapy; strengths-based approaches; mental illness; intellectual disability
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (IJERPH) welcomes submissions to a Special Issue focusing on “Strengths-Based Perspectives on Supporting Persons with Mental Illnesses and/or Intellectual Disabilities Who Have Offended".
Persons with mental illnesses and/or intellectual disabilities (PMI/ID) are highly represented among offender populations. As these persons are considered legally unaccountable for their actions, they can be considered as “patients” as well as “offenders” (in order not to stigmatize, we opt to use the term “persons who have offended”). Due to the mental illness and/or intellectual disability (or a combination of both), these persons often have specific support needs. In general, three perspectives in order to deal with PMI/ID can be discerned: a forensic–psychiatric care perspective, a risk-oriented perspective, and a strengths-based perspective (cf. Barnao and Ward, 2015). Whilst we do not neglect the value of the first two perspectives (in light of legitimate goals, such as treating psychiatric problems or safeguarding society from persons “labeled as dangerous”), this Special Issue specifically focusses on the development and application of strengths-based approaches in the forensic field. Strengths-based perspectives highlight the persons’ own capacities, the importance of one’s natural resources, and the fact that a person should be involved in important decisions regarding support/treatment and his or her life in general. As such, it relates to personal and interpersonal competencies as well as community resources.
We are interested in the following topics related to strengths-based approaches (non-exhaustive list):
- Aspects related to the micro-level, such as:
- first-person perspectives on support (e.g., “patient”/client views, social network members’ accounts, etc.)
- research related to support needs, risks and protective factors of vulnerable sub-populations among persons who have offended
- studies on the support of family members and the broader social network
- studies on strengths-based assessment tools
- Aspects related to the meso-level, such as:
- application of strengths-based approaches in different setting (forensic residential psychiatric services, jails and prisons, community-based settings, etc.)
- development, implementation and/or evaluation of strengths-based support methods
- innovative strengths-based practices and methods
- Aspects related to the macro-level, such as:
- studies related to policy, economic evaluations, cost-effectiveness studies, etc.
- studies related to legal issues in relation to strengths-based approaches
- Furthermore, we welcome theoretical contributions focusing on the conceptualisation and operationalisation of strengths-based approaches in forensic and judicial settings
- We welcome contributions that apply to adolescent or adult populations.
We would like to invite researchers to contribute innovative work to be considered for publication in this Special Issue. Submissions can include original research articles, review studies (systematic reviews or meta-analyses), theoretical contributions or brief reports.
Prof. Dr. Stijn Vandevelde
Prof. Dr. Tom Vander Beken
Dr. Sara Rowaert
Guest Editors
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Keywords
- persons who have offended
- strengths-based approach
- good lives model
- offender rehabilitation
- intellectual disability
- mental illness
- family support
- family experiences
- social network
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