The first of its kind, Women's Mental Health Issues Across the Criminal Justice System is dedicated to giving the "most invisible" offenders in today's criminal justice system mentally ill adolescent girls and women a face and a voice. The book is organized around the subsystems of the U.S. criminal justice system. Each section highlights mental health research and policy issues and focuses on the impediments to treatment and service delivery as well as the model programs, assessments, and intervention processes that offer hope within and across the system.

The second edition of A Handbook for the Study of Mental Health provides a comprehensive review of the sociology of mental health. Chapters by leading scholars and researchers present an overview of historical, social and institutional frameworks. Part I examines social factors that shape psychiatric diagnosis and the measurement of mental health and illness, theories that explain the definition and treatment of mental disorders and cultural variability. Part II investigates effects of social context, considering class, gender, race and age, and the critical role played by stress, marriage, work and social support. Part III focuses on the organization, delivery and evaluation of mental health services, including the criminalization of mental illness, the challenges posed by HIV, and the importance of stigma. This is a key research reference source that will be useful to both undergraduates and graduate students studying mental health and illness from any number of disciplines.

Contributors to this volume present and discuss new data which suggest that major mental disorder substantially increases the risk of violent crime. These findings come at a crucial time, since those who suffer from mental disorders are increasingly living in the community, rather than in institutions. The book describes the magnitude and complexity of the problem and offers hope that humane, effective intervention can prevent violent crime being committed by the seriously mentally disordered.

Discover how to best provide effective mental health treatments for criminal offenders Prisons and jails are increasingly being filled with inmates who suffer from mental illness and need treatment. Mental Health Issues in the Criminal Justice System examines a wide range of the latest research and learned perspectives focusing on the intersection of mental health services and the criminal justice system. Top experts and academics discuss mental health treatment, its availability, it effectiveness, and just how cost effective it truly is to treat those in prisons and jails. This valuable text provides a broad interdisciplinary view of the topic and presents important qualitative and quantitative research of specific topics, such as the effectiveness of prisoner representatives, the causal link between incarceration and mental illness, and the expanding rates of correctional offenders with mental illness. Mental Health Issues in the Criminal Justice System discusses a wide range of pertinent topics focusing on the viability and functioning of mental health treatment models in prisons and jails. Recommendations on desired correctional mental health programs are presented, along with strategies to better provide therapeutic services. Respected experts provide practical suggestions on research that needs to be addressed in the future. The book is extensively referenced and includes several tables and figures to clearly present data. Other topics in Mental Health Issues in the Criminal Justice System include: the prevalence of mental illness in jails and prisons—and the duty society has to provide appropriate mental health treatment three components critical to the success of jail diversion programs ethics of doing research on prisoners an extended care community corrections model the experience of mitigation experts in first degree murder cases in the penalty phase of the trial the criminalization of the mentally ill because of fragmentation of mental health services correctional offenders with mental illness (OMIs)—and their differences from the general offender population the role of the helping alliance in juvenile probation settings and much more! Mental Health Issues in the Criminal Justice System is a timely, insightful text for anyone in the criminal justice or mental health fields, educators, graduate students, and upper-level undergraduate students.

The Criminal Justice System is becoming a de facto provider of mental health care, according to a series of recent prison inspections and reports on policing and mental illness which have highlighted the crisis in mental health services. However, the pressures on prisons and other areas of the CJS mean that the needs of those with mental health problems are often overlooked. This book examines the experiences of people with mental health problems across all stages of the CJS and across all the points of contact – police, Courts and prisons between the CJS and people with mental health problems. Providing a clearly written, comprehensive introduction to the main themes in this field, it also has a clear critical edge highlighting the failings in the areas of penal and social policy that have resulted in increasing numbers of people with mental health problems being criminalised. Highlighting a very important social issue, Mental Health and the Criminal Justice System provides a thorough introduction to this subject for social work students and practitioners.

It has long been known that the pathway through the criminal justice system for those with mental health needs is fraught with difficulty. This interdisciplinary collection explores key issues in mental health, crime and criminal justice, including: offenders' rights; intervention designs; desistance; health-informed approaches to offending and the medical needs of offenders; psychological jurisprudence, and; collaborative and multi-agency practice. This volume draws on the knowledge of professionals and academics working in this field internationally, as well as the experience of service users. It offers a solution-focused response to these issues, and promotes both equality and quality of experience for service users. It will be essential reading for practitioners, scholars and students with an interest in forensic mental health and criminal justice.

The complicated relationship between defendants with mental health disorders and the criminal justice system The American criminal justice system is based on the bedrock principles of fairness and justice for all. In striving to ensure that all criminal defendants are treated equally under the law, it endeavors to handle similar cases in similar fashion, attempting to apply rules and procedures even-handedly regardless of a defendant’s social class, race, ethnicity, or gender. Yet, the criminal justice system has also recognized exceptions when special circumstances underlie a defendant’s behavior or are likely to skew the defendant’s trial. One of the most controversial set of exceptions –often poorly articulated and inconsistently applied – involves criminal defendants with a mental disorder. A series of special rules and procedures has evolved over the centuries, often without fanfare and even today with little systematic examination, that lawyers and judges apply to cases involving defendants with a mental disorder. This book provides an analysis of the key issues in this dynamic interplay between individuals with a mental disorder and the criminal justice system. The volume identifies the various stages of criminal justice proceedings when the mental status of a defendant may be relevant, associated legal and policy issues, the history and evolution of these issues, and how they are currently resolved. To assist this exploration, the text also offers an overview of mental disorders, their relevance to criminal proceedings, how forensic mental health assessments are conducted and employed during these proceedings, and their application to competency and responsibility determinations. In sum, this book provides an important resource for students and scholars with an interest in mental health, law, and criminal justice.