**1. Introduction**

Human is a social being, which occupies in different ways to survive. Occupations are all of the daily activities in one's life that make him who he is. Occupations are formed by cultural backgrounds and include all the tasks performed to fulfill the time and give life meaning. Occupational therapy is a treatment option for individuals with physical, mental

© 2016 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. © 2018 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

or developmental conditions that focus on health and well-being by using meaningful and purposeful occupations for individuals for the development, improvement or maintenance of the essential skills needed to be successful in their environment [1].

facility, plays an important part in their recovery. The unit reduces the risk associated with the inmates and facilitates their transition into the community or less restricted settings. However, the same results could be achieved with occupational therapists. The two main methods that are adopted by occupational therapists (OTs) are the reduction of occupation deprivation and increasing skills by occupational participation. Hence, the inmates are provided with an opportunity to play a purposeful and meaningful occupa-

Occupational Therapy in Forensic Settings http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.79366 53

Patients, who are admitted to the forensic units and get in contact with the criminal justice system as a consequence of their committed crimes, are detained in accordance with the country-specific mental health legislation. However, some patients are admitted due to severe

There are several types of correctional settings where charged offenders are held. The main institutions are forensic mental health settings, jails and prisons. Forensic mental health settings include the following: high secure units, medium secure units, low secure units, psychiatric/acute mental health units, community, forensic hostel, special hospital, acute unit of a forensic hospital, high-security section of a forensic hospital, sub-acute unit of a forensic hospital, consultation/liaison position in the community sector, tertiary mental health facility,

Jails and prisons are the main correctional facilities since they are able to hold the greatest number of people. There are approximately 12 million jail admissions, which is approxi-

Jails and prisons served for different purposes; have restricted opportunities for rehabilitation; offer a similar grade of occupational deprivation, inadequate access to health services and poorly planned methods; are temporary in nature and lack systematic regulation and

Jails and prisons provide care for mentally disturbed offenders in ill-equipped correctional institutions. In particular, jails are used for temporary confinement and are usually lacking in mental health screenings and treatment received by inmates in jails is more limited. Prisons, however, might offer inmates the opportunity to access consulting service for substance abuse

Jails serve as an introduction to the incarceration system. They are local correctional facilities operated by a city or country instead of the federal or state government. The main purpose of jails and prisoner distribution centers is to confine a person before and after court judgments and to filter prisoners to and from courts and other correctional facilities. Some people in jails have been sentenced, while others might be waiting to be convicted. Many individuals receive

Judgment is mostly a complex process of sentencing. In this respect, inmates in forensic set-

extended forensic/psychiatric safe care and medium to high secure unit [11].

treatment even though the service delivery is generally insufficient [14].

tings might either be arraigned or experiencing the trial process.

mately 19 times that of state and federal prisons [12].

an imprisonment of less than 2 years [3].

tion in society [3].

behavioral issues.

resources [13].

**2.1. Jails**

Forensic occupational therapy refers the occupational therapy service that assesses and makes interventions to the individuals with occupational problems in the criminal justice system [2]. The forensic settings can be variable and be challenging, but the main point here to pay attention is the holistic and humanistic view of occupational therapy which says that occupation is vital for human and is essential for health and well-being. From this view, forensic occupational therapy is the same as the mental health occupational therapy practice in some ways [3]. The main difference is the legal context and the restrictive correctional environment. The legal context is usually built upon deprivation of some occupations, and this alienates the individual to the occupation. Also, labeling and stigma affect reintegration to the community [4].

In terms of the individual, occupational therapy is an important necessity for occupational participation and occupational balance. With these, occupational therapy prepares the person for community life and protects the individual from recidivism [5]. This is not the sole benefit of occupational therapy. Also, there are benefits for the community; reducing crime provides social wellbeing and also increases social welfare by contributing to the individual's productivity activities, so that, forensic occupational therapy has dual aim both for the individual and the community.

The forensic population is growing all over the world and brings challenges with this growing population [5–8]. These challenges can depend on the person, environment and/or activity. The thing that should never be ignored is the legal context, and the therapists must consider the needs of individuals in the legal context [9].

Offenders' rehabilitation is a multidisciplinary teamwork, and occupational therapy is a key part of the treatment and rehabilitation. The methods are similar to other mental health settings. The key focuses for the occupational therapists working in forensic settings are assessment, prevention of occupational deprivation, development of occupations to prevent recidivism, preparation for discharge and activities of daily living (ADLs), preparation to community and the vocational rehabilitation.

This chapter describes the occupational therapy in forensic settings such as prisons, secure hospitals and community reintegration services. The chapter also discusses the assessments, models that can be used in forensic settings, interventions and challenges in forensic settings.
