Gemeinsame Entwicklung,unterschiedliche Inzidenz

Background

In order to understand the increasing numbers of detentions of forensic inpatients according to § 63 StGB (German Penal Code), the development of the sentences for forensic treatment is of great importance. The overall development over a longer time period, such as a breakdown by individual federal states may reflect changes in diagnostic and legal actions.

Method

According to the information supplied by the research data center of Germany (Forschungsdatenzentrum der Länder), the total number of detentions for forensic treatment from 1995 to 2009 for an average population number of 68.6 million inhabitants and the development of different characteristics (e.g. sociodemographic, crime-related) were identified during the investigation period. A total of12,063 records each with 9 attributes were evaluated.

Results

The number of detentions for forensic treatment increased by approximately half (47?%) during the study period. The patients who were not criminally responsible and the proportion of moderately severe offences (e.g. assault, arson and other violent crimes) increased over the investigation period. In contrast, the proportion of completed homicides and sexual crimes decreased as well as the number of previous and concurrent convictions. These developments showed similar tendencies in the individual federal states.