What Happens after Discharge from a Forensic Psychiatric Hospital?: An Analysis of Causally Complex Patterns of Recovery among People Found Non-criminally Responsible on Account of Mental Disorder.

This article examines how configurations of dynamic risk and protective factors, alongside static factors, explain recovery six months after discharge in a sample of 60 forensic psychiatric patients found non-criminally responsible on account of mental disorder (NCRMD). Using fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA), the study identifies that the absence of dynamic risk factors is a necessary condition for recovery, while the presence of dynamic protective factors plays a significant but not necessary role, often in combination with other factors such as absence of symptoms and historical clinical risk factors. The findings highlight that recovery is best understood as resulting from multiple interacting conditions rather than isolated factors, emphasizing the importance of dynamic factors in both theory and intervention. Limitations include a small sample size and cross-sectional design, suggesting the need for further research to explore these configurations over time and in larger populations.