Abstract: Abstract The objective of this study is to review the definition of criminalization of persons with severe mental illness (SMI), discuss possible causes of criminalization of this population, and analyze findings from empirical studies that examine the criminalization hypothesis. At each point in the criminal justice system—the police‐citizen encounter, arrest, court processing, and jail detention—studies have shown that persons with SMI have extensive contact with the criminal justice system. Many studies of the criminalization of persons with SMI were conducted before special programs were developed to divert persons with SMI from the correctional system into the mental health system, e.g., special training programs for police, mental health crisis teams integrated into police departments, jail diversion programs, and mental health courts. Future studies should address the extent to which the recent programs designed to reduce criminalization of persons with SMI have been effective.
Publication Year: 2009
Publication Date: 2009-04-17
Language: en
Type: other
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 1
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