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Specialist courts and borderline personality disorder: a pilot study of the efficacy of the assessment and referral court list to reduce recidivist behaviour

Brianna Chesser (School of Criminology and Justice, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia)
Ken Smith (School of Education, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, Australia.)
Alyssa Sigamoney (School of Criminology and Justice, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia)
Casey Becker (School of Health and Biomedical Sciences (Psychology), RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia)

Journal of Criminal Psychology

ISSN: 2009-3829

Article publication date: 31 March 2023

Issue publication date: 27 November 2023

240

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the ways in which the criminal justice system has evolved to accommodate mental illness. Mental health courts are one such alternative; these courts actively seek rehabilitative and therapeutic outcomes for participants. However, current literature suggests that these courts are ineffective for offenders who have been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder (BPD).

Design/methodology/approach

The aim of the current inquiry was to determine the degree to which participation in the Assessment and Referral Court (ARC) List in the Magistrates’ Court of Victoria reduced re-offending rates for offenders diagnosed with BPD by providing a comparative analysis of pre and post ARC List offending.

Findings

The results of a two-year recidivism study suggest that successful completion of the ARC List reduces recidivism for 50% of offenders diagnosed with BPD.

Originality/value

To the authoring team’s knowledge, this is the second paper to explore the efficacy of the Assessment of Referral Court List (Magistrates’ Court of Victoria) in reducing recidivist behaviours for programme participants; however, it is the first paper to look specifically at the recidivist behaviours of participants of the Assessment of Referral Court List (Magistrates’ Court of Victoria) who have been diagnosed with BPD.

Keywords

Citation

Chesser, B., Smith, K., Sigamoney, A. and Becker, C. (2023), "Specialist courts and borderline personality disorder: a pilot study of the efficacy of the assessment and referral court list to reduce recidivist behaviour", Journal of Criminal Psychology, Vol. 13 No. 4, pp. 282-299. https://doi.org/10.1108/JCP-10-2022-0027

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited

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