Responding to the needs of people with mental illness in the criminal justice system: an area ripe for research and community partnerships

Abstract

For the past 40 years, scholars, practitioners, and advocates in the fields of mental health and criminal justice have observed that people with serious mental illness (PSMI) are being criminalized – that is, processed through the criminal justice system when a mental health option would be preferable but unavailable. Criminal justice officials and practitioners have reported that PSMI are being arrested, prosecuted, and sentenced with great frequency and regularity. Similarly, researchers have noted that PSMI are over-represented in institutional and community correctional populations compared with their representation in the general population. This article examines four common issues concerning criminally involved PSMI. The first is the heterogeneity of PSMI, who enter the criminal justice system for different reasons and have varied criminal justice and mental health histories. The second is the contribution of deinstitutionalization to the growing presence of PSMI in jails and prisons. The third is the war on drugs, which has expanded the criminal justice net, sweeping into jails and prisons large numbers of mentally ill with comorbid substance use disorders. The fourth is the effect of mental health treatment on recidivism. The article concludes with recommendations for improving the treatment and care of PSMI in the criminal justice system.