NCJ Number
207514
Journal
Psychiatric Services Volume: 53 Issue: 1 Dated: January 2002 Pages: 50-56
Date Published
January 2002
Length
7 pages
Annotation
During a 15-month time period, this study examined whether the incarcerations of persons with mental illness who were on probation or parole occurred more for reasons of noncompliance with set psychiatric treatment than for new criminal activities.
Abstract
According to the criminalization hypothesis, more restrictive involuntary hospitalization criteria have increased the use of criminal arrest as a management strategy for persons who have severe mental illness. With a large number of persons with severe mental illness involved in the criminal justice system, specifically in jails or on probation, the question was raised as to whether jails were being used as an alternative to treatment for persons with mental illness. This study of the probation and parole system of a large city on the East Coast of the United States, examined the decision to incarcerate persons who are in violation of stipulations of probation or parole, specifically for those who are mentally ill and whose stipulations include compliance with prescribed psychiatric medication and housing arrangements. Two hundred and fifty clients of this urban psychiatric probation and parole service were screened for psychiatric diagnoses and monitored with a 12-month data collection protocol. A longitudinal analysis was used to explain incarceration on new charges, on technical violations, or absence of incarceration. The results support the hypothesis that among clients of a psychiatric probation and parole service the use of mental health services would explain incarceration for technical violations. However, on the basis of the findings it appeared that incarceration for a technical violation was not being used pervasively for treatment purposes. Yet, providing services that emphasize monitoring tends to increase the risk of incarceration for technical violations of criminal sanctions. References