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

The upshot of these needs for change is both dismaying and exciting, both disturbing in the destruction of long-familiar patterns of dealing with human suffering, and paradoxically hopeful in raising the possibility that significant failures in our health care systems of the past — limited access to medical care and grossly inadequate public sector “non-systems”, for example — may now be addressed more successfully.

Administration and policy in mental health

Men and women experience different kinds of mental health problems. While women exceed men in internalizing disorders such as depression and anxiety, men exhibit more externalizing disorders such as substance abuse and antisocial behavior, which are problematic for others. These differences also vary by race and social class: for example, African Americans possess better mental health and, thus, a smaller gender gap in psychiatric problems. What explains these differences? We concentrate on conceptions of gender and gender practices. Research on gender and mental health suggests that conceptions of masculinity and femininity affect major risk factors for internalizing and externalizing problems, including the stressors men and women are exposed to, the coping strategies they use, the social relationships they engage in, and the personal resources and vulnerabilities they develop. This chapter investigates explanations in these areas for gender differences both in general and by race and class.

Gender and mental health.

Forensic psychologists are frequently asked to conduction evaluations of risk assessment. While risk assessment has considerable merit, recent applications to forensic psychology raise concerns about whether these evaluations are thorough and balanced. Forensic adult risk-assessment models stress risk factors, and deemphasize or disregard entirely the other side of the equation: protective factors. Mediating and moderating effects must also be considered. Moreover, base-rate estimates may produce erroneous results if applied imprudently to forensic samples without regard to their unstable prevalence rates or the far-reaching effects of settings, referral questions, and evaluation procedures. Psychologists are offered a preliminary list of relevant issues for evaluating the merits of risk assessment in their forensic practices.

The Uncritical Acceptance of Risk Assessment in Forensic Practice

The chapter addresses the stigma associated with mental illnesses. It begins by summarizing the development of thinking about labeling and stigma over the past half century within the field of the sociology of mental health. This background leads to our consideration of recent advances in the conceptualization of stigma as we ask: What is stigma? How do different stigmatizing circumstances (mental illness, obesity, facial disfigurement) resemble and differ from one another? We also ask: Why do people stigmatize? In keeping with the Handbook’s emphasis on social class and socioeconomic status (SES), we introduce the concept of “stigma power” and apply this new concept to the questions of “What do people gain by stigmatizing others?” and “How is stigma power exercised?” Finally, we consider the steps people take to avoid, mitigate, or overcome stigma, drawing in particular on Thoits’ (Soc Psychol Q 74:6–28, 2011) theoretical statements about this issue. The conceptual growth that has taken place over time opens enormous possibilities for advancing the sociological understanding of mental illness stigma and by doing so helps to illuminate ways in which the effects of stigma might be mitigated.

Labeling and Stigma

Mental health courts have recently emerged as one means to reduce the number of persons with mental illness in the criminal justice system. Using a post-test only comparison group design, this study examined rearrest rates for 1 year post discharge among three groups meeting admission criteria for a municipal mental health court. The rearrest rate of defendants who successfully completed the program (N = 351) was 14.5%, compared to 38% among defendants negatively terminated from the program (N = 137), and 25.8% among defendants who chose not to participate (N = 89). This positive result held even when controlling for a range of variables in a Cox regression survival analysis. Factors associated with rearrest are identified for each of the three groups.

Recidivism Outcomes for Suburban Mental Health Court Defendants

We evaluate three disposition options for mentally ill offenders: abolishing the insanity defense, substituting a guilty but mentally ill verdict, or retaining the insanity defense with a conditional release. We review the foundations of each position and the research on implementation and policy outcomes. We also discuss the political support behind each position. We argue that retaining the insanity defense with conditional release and community monitoring is the most viable option.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/515797

A Critical Assessment of Disposition Options for Mentally Ill Offenders

Mental health court outcomes research shows moderate success in reducing criminal recidivism. Far less research concentrates on defendants who do not choose to participate or are negatively termina...

Factors Associated with Mental Health Court Nonparticipation and Negative Termination

Homicide defendants asserting the insanity defense make a volatile combination. Numerous studies review inmates with murder convictions, yet the literature is not rich regarding defendants found not guilty by reason of insanity (NGRI) for murder. This study analyzes 27 years of insanity acquittals in Missouri, finding significant differences between those defendants found NGRI for murder and those found NGRI for other crimes. The get-tough-on-crime initiatives found in the criminal justice system may have led to longer hospital stays post-1996 for NGRI murder acquittees, yet hospitalization lengths increased for all NGRI acquittees, a potential unintended consequence. Policy implications and future research directions are discussed.

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1088767912438711

Tough on Crime or Beating the System An Evaluation of Missouri Department of Mental Health’s Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity Murder Acquittees

Inclusion of race and gender in criminal justice education has, to some degree, been prompted as a result of perceived bias by criminal justice system professionals. Utilizing the race and gender experience as a template, interactions between the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered (GLBT) community and the criminal justice system are explored. This study surveyed criminal justice undergraduate degree programs to ascertain course content on gay and lesbian issues. Results indicate that an extremely small number of programs have such a course or alternatively incorporate GLBT issues within existing race and gender courses. Implications for criminal justice education are discussed.

P. Ann Dirks-Linhorst

Papers

Recidivism Outcomes for Suburban Mental Health Court Defendants

A Critical Assessment of Disposition Options for Mentally Ill Offenders

Factors Associated with Mental Health Court Nonparticipation and Negative Termination

Tough on Crime or Beating the System An Evaluation of Missouri Department of Mental Health’s Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity Murder Acquittees

How Will They Understand if We Don’t Teach Them? The Status of Criminal Justice Education on Gay and Lesbian Issues