Protection of Prisoners with Mental Health Disorders in Italy: Lights and Shadows after the Abolition of Judicial Psychiatric Hospitals

Giulio Di Mizio, Matteo Bolcato (), Gianfranco Rivellini, Michele Di Nunzio, Valentina Falvo, Marco Nuti, Francesco Enrichens, Luciano Lucania, Nunzio Di Nunno and Massimo Clerici
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Giulio Di Mizio: Forensic Medicine and Criminology, Department of Law, Magna Graecia University of Catanzaro, 88100 Catanzaro, Italy
Matteo Bolcato: Department of Neuroscience, University of Padua, 35121 Padua, Italy
Gianfranco Rivellini: Health Unit, REMS of Veneto, ULSS 9 Scaligera—Nogara, 37122 Verona, Italy
Michele Di Nunzio: Center of Mental Health (CSM) “Boccea”, Via di Boccea 271, 00166 Rome, Italy
Valentina Falvo: Law and Criminological Firm, 88046 Lamezia Terme, Italy
Marco Nuti: National Agency of Regional Service AGENAS, 30165 Rome, Italy
Francesco Enrichens: National Agency of Regional Service AGENAS, 30165 Rome, Italy
Luciano Lucania: Italian Society of Penitentiary Medicine (SIMSPE), 30165 Rome, Italy
Nunzio Di Nunno: Department of History, Society and Studies on Humanity, University of Salento, 83100 Lecce, Italy
Massimo Clerici: Psychiatry Unit, School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano-Bicocca, 20126 Milan, Italy

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 16, 1-8

Abstract: In Italy, a person suffering from a mental disorder who commits a crime will be given a custodial security order and serve the period of admission at a Residenza per la esecuzione delle misure di sicurezza (REMS) (Residence for the Execution of Security Measures, hereinafter “REMS”). These institutions have been established recently and though equipped with the necessary safety measures, the focus is on psychiatric therapy. Despite being present on a national scale, access is very limited in terms of capacity. Immediate remedial measures are needed, so much so that the European Court of Human Rights recently condemned Italy for this very reason. This article, through a review of the constitutive principles of these institutions, shows how they have very positive aspects such as the attention to necessary psychotherapy in order to protect the right to health and the real taking charge of the fragility of the subjects; however, it is seen how there are many negative aspects linked above all to the scarce availability of places in these structures. The article provides suggestions on a more comprehensive strategy for facilities for detainees with mental disorders.

Keywords: health; prison; prison medicine; REMS; forensic psychiatric treatment; safety; ECHR (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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