Many people who would benefit from mental health services opt not to pursue them or fail to fully participate once they have begun. One of the reasons for this disconnect is stigma; namely, to avoid the label of mental illness and the harm it brings, people decide not to seek or fully participate in care. Stigma yields 2 kinds of harm that may impede treatment participation: It diminishes self-esteem and robs people of social opportunities. Given the existing literature in this area, recommendations are reviewed for ongoing research that will more comprehensively expand understanding of the stigma-care seeking link. Implications for the development of antistigma programs that might promote care seeking and participation are also reviewed.

/pdf/how-stigma-interferes-with-mental-health-care-35qwi45aiy.pdf

How stigma interferes with mental health care.

https://bulger.co.uk/prison/prisoners_Lancet.pdf

Serious mental disorder in 23 000 prisoners: a systematic review of 62 surveys

This paper provides an overview of United States-based research on the ways in which racism can affect mental health. It describes changes in racial attitudes over time, the persistence of negative racial stereotypes and the ways in which negative beliefs were incorporated into societal policies and institutions. It then reviews the available scientific evidence that suggests that racism can adversely affect mental health status in at least three ways. First, racism in societal institutions can lead to truncated socioeconomic mobility, differential access to desirable resources, and poor living conditions that can adversely affect mental health. Second, experiences of discrimination can induce physiological and psychological reactions that can lead to adverse changes in mental health status. Third, in race-conscious societies, the acceptance of negative cultural stereotypes can lead to unfavorable self-evaluations that have deleterious effects on psychological well-being. Research directions are outlined.

Racism and Mental Health: The African American experience

How does access to this work benefit you? Let us know! Follow this and additional works at: http://academicworks.cuny.edu/jj_pubs Part of the Courts Commons, Criminal Law Commons, Criminal Procedure Commons, Criminology Commons, Judges Commons, Law and Politics Commons, Law and Society Commons, Law Enforcement and Corrections Commons, Legislation Commons, Politics and Social Change Commons, and the Race and Ethnicity Commons

/pdf/the-growth-of-incarceration-in-the-united-states-exploring-212x90j52g.pdf

The growth of incarceration in the United States: exploring causes and consequences

We test whether significant differences in mental illness exist in a matched sample of Mental illness and the criminal justice system. In T. L. Scheid T. N. Brown (Eds.), A handbook for the study of mental health: Social contexts, theories. Find 9780521567633 A Handbook for the Study of Mental Health : Social Contexts, Theories, and Systems by Horwitz et al at over 30 bookstores. Buy, rent. A review of mental health problems in fathers following the birth of a child. for the study of mental health:Social contexts, theories, and systems (2nd ed., pp.

A Handbook for the Study of Mental Health: Social Contexts, Theories, and Systems

OBJECTIVE: The presence of severely mentally ill persons in jails and prisons is an urgent problem. This review examines this problem and makes recommendations for preventing and alleviating it. METHODS: MEDLINE, Psychological Abstracts, and the Index to Legal Periodicals and Books were searched from 1970, and all pertinent references were obtained. Results and CONCLUSIONS: Clinical studies suggest that 6 to 15 percent of persons in city and county jails and 10 to 15 percent of persons in state prisons have severe mental illness. Offenders with severe mental illness generally have acute and chronic mental illness and poor functioning. A large proportion are homeless. It appears that a greater proportion of mentally ill persons are arrested compared with the general population. Factors cited as causes of mentally ill persons' being placed in the criminal justice system are deinstitutionalization, more rigid criteria for civil commitment, lack of adequate community support for persons with mental illness, m...

Persons with severe mental illness in jails and prisons: a review.

With deinstitutionalization and the influx into the community of persons with severe mental illness, the police have become frontline professionals who manage these persons when they are in crisis. This article examines and comments on the issues raised by this phenomenon as it affects both the law enforcement and mental health systems. Two common-law principles provide the rationale for the police to take responsibility for persons with mental illness: their power and authority to protect the safety and welfare of the community, and their parens patriae obligations to protect individuals with disabilities. The police often fulfill the role of gatekeeper in deciding whether a person with mental illness who has come to their attention should enter the mental health system or the criminal justice system. Criminalization may result if this role is not performed appropriately. The authors describe a variety of mobile crisis teams composed of police, mental health professionals, or both. The need for police of...

https://ps.psychiatryonline.org/doi/pdf/10.1176/appi.ps.53.10.1266

The police and mental health.

Far-reaching structural changes have been made in the mental health system. Many severely mentally ill persons who come to the attention of law enforcement now receive their inpatient treatment in jails and prisons, at least in part, because of a dramatic reduction of psychiatric inpatient beds. While more high-quality community treatment, such as intensive case management and assertive community treatment, is needed, the authors believe that for many, 24-hour structured care is needed in the mental health system for various lengths of time to decrease criminalization. Another central theme of this article is that when a mentally ill individual is arrested, that person now has a computerized criminal record, which is easily accessed by the police and the courts in subsequent encounters. This may influence their decisions and reinforce the tendency to choose the criminal justice system over the mental health system.

http://jaapl.org/content/jaapl/33/4/529.full.pdf

The shift of psychiatric inpatient care from hospitals to jails and prisons.

There is an increasing number of severely mentally ill persons in the criminal justice system. This article first discusses the criminalization of persons with severe mental illness and its causes, the role of the police and mental health, and the treatment of mentally ill offenders and its difficulties. The authors then offer recommendations to reduce criminalization by increased coordination between police and mental health professionals, to increase mental health training for police officers, to enhance mental health services after arrest, and to develop more and better community treatment of mentally ill offenders. The necessary components of such treatment are having a treatment philosophy of both theory and practice; having clear goals of treatment; establishing a close liaison between treatment staff and the justice system; understanding the need for structure; having a focus on managing violence; and appreciating the crucial role of case management, appropriate living arrangements, and the role of family members.

https://www.sjsu.edu/people/rita.manning/courses/292/s1/Lamb.pdf

Mentally Ill Persons in the Criminal Justice System: Some Perspectives

OBJECTIVE: Very large numbers of severely mentally ill persons now fall under the jurisdiction of the criminal justice system. A number of conditions are placed on those who are returned to the com...

https://ps.psychiatryonline.org/doi/pdf/10.1176/ps.50.7.907

Linda E. Weinberger

Papers

Persons with severe mental illness in jails and prisons: a review.

The police and mental health.

The shift of psychiatric inpatient care from hospitals to jails and prisons.

Mentally Ill Persons in the Criminal Justice System: Some Perspectives

Community treatment of severely mentally ill offenders under the jurisdiction of the criminal justice system: a review.