[Difficult mentally ill patients: length of hospitalization in english and french maximum security services].

The average length of stay of a difficult and dangerous mentally disordered patient and offender in conditions of maximum security is much longer in England and Wales than it is in France. This difference can be attributed to reasons of history, to national procedures relating to admission, transfer and discharge, to the differing importance attached to the gravity of the admission offence and to the time-lags involved in carrying out the transfer and discharge decisions.