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September 2, 2026Journal of Forensic Practice

Understanding substance use patterns in offenders with mental illness following discharge into the community: a cohort study

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Authors

GTGrace TrundleDFDr Bryony FairhurstSFSally Foster

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Overview

Cohort study finds substance use relapse predicts psychiatric readmission rather than reoffending in forensic mental health patients, highlighting the need for continuous community interventions.

Key Points

  • Examine profiles of substance use, criminal reoffending, and psychiatric readmission among mentally disordered offenders following discharge to the community.
  • Analyzed secondary clinical records from a cohort of 66 adults managed by a Community Forensic Team.
  • Tracked substance use history, completed treatment interventions, psychiatric hospital readmissions, and criminal reoffending rates.
  • Evaluated associations between intervention completion, relapse, readmission, and reoffending using Fisher's Exact tests.
  • Substance use was identified in 95.45% of participants, with alcohol and cannabis being the most frequently reported substances.
  • Completion of a substance use intervention showed no statistically significant association with post-discharge substance use.
  • Substance use relapse was significantly associated with psychiatric hospital readmission, but not with criminal reoffending.

Cite This Study

Trundle et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a97e29ec562ede874ec6dc8https://doi.org/10.1108/jfp-05-2026-0056
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Also Consider

Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context:

  1. 1Problematic substance use among forensic psychiatric community patients2013 · 7 citations
  2. 2Systematic Review of Forensic Mental Health Patients on Conditional Discharge: Part One - Quantitative Findings, Methodology, Limitations and Future Research.2025 · 5 citations
  3. 3Risk factors for criminal recidivism – a prospective follow-up study in prisoners with substance abuse2012 · 158 citations
  4. 4“A new horizon?”: evaluation of an integrated Substance Use Treatment Programme (SUTP) for mentally disordered offenders2015 · 12 citations
  5. 5Prevalence of alcohol and substance use relapse in forensic inpatients with substance use disorders in Germany2025