Mental health research in the criminal justice system: The need for common approaches and international perspectives.
There is a need for researchers and policy makers in the area of mental health and law to collaborate and develop common methods of approach to research. Although we have learned a great deal about the prevalence and needs of mentally ill offenders in jails and prisons, there are a number of research questions that remain. If the "second generation" of research is to be fruitful--and useful to policy makers--we need to be sure that the methods we employ are valid and that the findings we obtain are reliable. By collaborating with colleagues in other jurisdictions, we can begin to learn whether some of the existing findings are of a general nature, or dependent upon the system in which they were found. Similarly, while the first-generation research has alerted us to the needs of mentally ill offenders in jails and prisons, second-generation research is needed to help identify factors that may help prevent the "revolving door phenomenon," which results in mentally ill people being volleyed among mental health, criminal justice, and community settings. One area that has received embarrassingly little attention has been the need for considering the relationship between substance abuse and mental disorders. In our own work, we have found an alarmingly high degree of substance abuse among offenders, including mentally ill offenders. We have come to realize the importance of considering the role that substance abuse coupled with other mental disorders may play in the criminal justice system. As a result of this concern, the Surrey Mental Health Project recently hired a full-time drug and alcohol counselor whose job it is to work with inmates with substance abuse disorders while in the jail, and to help arrange continuing treatment resources upon their release. As Wilson et al. (1995) discuss, intensive case management projects may be particularly useful at targeting the unique needs of mentally ill offenders with multiple problems. Much of the research conducted with mentally ill offenders to date has focused primarily upon psychological and psychiatric questions--questions that are, as Hodgins (1995) indicates, epidemiological in nature. More attention must be paid to that research by policy makers and others who work with mentally ill offenders in the criminal justice system. As Hoyer et al. (1995) and Gould (1995) make clear, a number of unique policy questions arise when considering mentally ill offenders in the legal system.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Roesch
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Department of Psychology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada.
Ogloff
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Eaves
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D003416:Criminal Law / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D005555:Forensic Psychiatry; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D008603:Mental Health; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D015995:Prevalence; D011329:Prisoners / Q000523:psychology; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012017:Referral and Consultation