Abstract
Despite repeated support from central government, the policy of diversion from custody remains at best a partial success. One reason for this may be the conflict between this policy and the move towards community-based mental health services. This paper explores the criteria that might be applied when deciding whether or not to admit a mentally disordered offender to hospital, and the differences between these and the criteria which might apply in a community setting.
The authors conclude that there are compelling reasons why the threshold for admission of offender patients should be different from that for non-offender patients, and that the principle of deinstitutionalisation of mental health services should be modified when applied to forensic populations.
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