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Background: Whilst women admitted to secure care are believed to require gender-specific services, there is limited research to inform their provision. Method: Clinical and forensic characteristics and outcomes on 93 women were obtained from multiple data sources and compared with 502 men admitted to the same medium secure unit over a 20-year period. Results: Compared to the men, the women were more likely to have more mental health needs and less criminality. At discharge, women were more likely to be transferred to secure care and less likely to be transferred to prison. Following discharge, the women had a higher rate of mortality. While reconviction rates were similar for the two groups for serious offenses, violent or arson incidents not leading to conviction were more likely for women. The women were more likely to be readmitted, and to be readmitted to high secure care. Conclusion: Despite more favorable criminological characteristics at baseline, our data suggest a poorer outcome for women overall...

Although levels of security in UK forensic psychiatric services are generally accepted as being divided into high, medium and low security there are few detailed descriptors beyond those of high security. The lack of clear definitions of security poses problems for researchers, clinicians and patients. Developments in forensic care increasingly demand that patients should receive care under conditions of security that are no greater than necessary to manage the risks they present. This is not a simple proposition; a number of complex areas have to be addressed by clinicians when defining a patient's individual needs for security. In an attempt to provide a more comprehensive description of patients' security needs the authors developed the Security Needs Assessment Profile (S.N.A.P). This instrument builds on the three traditional dimensions of security: physical, procedural and relational. Each dimension is sub-divided into a number of items, 22 overall. Each item was described on a four-point scale, eac...