The framing of Swedish forensic mental health services - Practical implications of ethical valuation, legally defined goals, and patients' needs

Abstract

Forensic mental health services (FMHS) face challenges due to a limited evidence base for common interventions and an unclear framing of their fundamental task in relation to the patients they serve. This creates difficulties for organizing care and developing services in a consistent and meaningful way. The overarching aim of this thesis is to contribute to a clearer framing of FMHS by examining how ethically relevant values are enacted and experienced in practice (studies I and II), by operationalizing the goals established in forensic mental health law (study III), and by exploring how patient needs relate to service organization (study IV).

Study I is based on interviews with thirteen individuals under FMHS care. It shows that experiences of distress and disempowerment can be consistent with what is understood as beneficent professional conduct. This suggests that outcomes of professional actions depend not only on intent but arguably also on context. Study II explores value practices as described in interviews with patients and professionals participating in administrative court hearings. The study shows that abstract values may offer insufficient guidance in practice and that values beyond risk reduction and mental health are prioritized. Study III uses qualitative comparative analysis of Camberwell Assessment of Need – Forensic version assessments to identify rehabilitative need profiles associated with outpatient status. The analysis indicates that no single need domain is decisive; rather, satisfied and unsatisfied needs combine in diverse ways, pointing to a flexible operationalization of legal goals and an expanded view of relevant needs. Study IV uses latent class analysis to identify subgroups within the FMHS patient population based on rehabilitation needs. The analysis supports the identification of three meaningful subtypes of patients, each implying different tasks for FMHS and different possible endpoints for care.

Taken together, the findings suggest that the task of FMHS involves a broader and more complex set of objectives than is commonly assumed. Some of these may extend beyond what FMHS can provide alone, and the goals of care may vary between different groups of patients. FMHS must therefore accommodate complexity without becoming arbitrary and delineate its responsibilities in relation to adjacent services.