Grant Proposal for establishment of the Puerto Rico Institute for Behavioral Criminology and Behavioral Forensic Sciences

Grant Proposal for establishment of the Puerto Rico Institute for Behavioral Criminology and Behavioral Forensic Sciences

To:
AP (Psychiatric) A
US Department of Justice: FBI and Department of Corrections
US Department of Health and Human Services
NIMH
The Office of the Governor of Puerto Rico

Dear madams and sirs:

I propose to establish the Puerto Rico Institute for Behavioral Criminology and Behavioral Forensic Sciences with the following purposes:

A. Theoretical:

• To explore the associations between mental illnesses and criminality and to develop the efficient strategies for prevention and treatment of criminal behaviors.
• To develop empirically based classification of mental disorders from criminological perspectives, geared towards better understanding of this association.
• To summarize and monitor all available literature in the field (on the interdisciplinary basis), to digest and translate it into human languages (bilingually: English and Spanish) and to publish these digests with selected original articles on the web, free of any charges, for professionals and public. Unimpeded access to scientific information should be viewed as one of the "inalienable rights" rather than commodity; the benefits of free access to this information immeasurably outweigh the costs which should be bared by the government, along the lines of the Pubmed model. Scientific activity and public education cannot exist without the free flow of information.
• To train the young professionals in the field on interdisciplinary basis and to develop the curricula and efficient strategies for their training.
• To develop models for combined general mental health, crime prevention and prison health services.
• To organize scientific meetings and conferences in the field on the national and international basis. Puerto Rico is the ideal location for it.

B. Practical

• To develop the series of diagnostic and therapeutic video games for children and adults, including the prison populations; utilising individualised psychophysiological and psychotherapetic approaches.
• To explore the use of blogging services for prisoners with diagnostic and therapeutic purposes.
• To develop strategies for prison personnel training and participation in prisons mental health services.

Puerto Rico can become an ideal natural laboratory for development and testing of described above services, with their further implementation on a national basis.