4.1 Chapter Overview
4.1.1 Learning Objectives
The following learning objectives tell you what’s most important in this chapter. Use these statements as a study guide to make sure you get the most out of this chapter.
- Describe the criminalization of mental disorders, particularly among multiply-marginalized populations.
- Discuss the importance and impact of diverting people with mental disorders out of the criminal justice system.
- Compare and contrast diversions that may be accomplished at different points in the criminal justice system.
- Explain the role of specific interventions (e.g., mental health courts) in the effort to decriminalize mental disorders.
4.1.2 Key Terms
Look for these important terms in the text in bold. Understanding these terms will help you meet the learning objectives of this chapter. You can find the complete definitions for these terms at the end of the chapter.
- Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)
- Community corrections
- Criminalization of Mental Disorders
- Diversion
- Intercept
- Mental health court
- National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)
- Pretrial services
- Problem-solving courts
- Reentry
- School-to-Prison Pipeline
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
- Sequential Intercept Model (SIM)
Imagine a person who experiences multiple mental disorders; we can call them Jamie. Jamie is homeless, has recently been unable to access prescribed medication, and has become increasingly mentally ill. Jamie lives in a makeshift shelter in the park and uses various substances. Jamie has created a pile of garbage and miscellaneous items near a playground structure in the park, blocking the sidewalk and limiting access for people who use the park. Neighborhood residents and park users call for help from local authorities. Police respond and confront Jamie. When Jamie, who engaged in substance use, becomes belligerent and resists intervention, they are arrested. Police hold Jamie for several hours prior to release due to perceived safety risks. While in custody, Jamie spits on the face of a deputy at the jail, incurring a more serious assault charge.
As we have learned in previous chapters, and as Jamie’s story illustrates, communities may struggle to find appropriate (effective, ethical, positive) responses to people who experience mental disorders. The challenges around responding appropriately increase where mental disorders are difficult to manage, as when they cause disruption or offending behavior. Though most people with mental disorders do not show this type of behavior, when it does happen, it often requires some sort of community safety response. Because our modern community response to public disruption has tended to be a law enforcement one, people with mental disorders have disproportionately been introduced into the criminal justice system via law enforcement encounters and all that may follow: arrest, detention, conviction, incarceration. That outcome is generally identified as a problem – the criminalization of mental disorders.
This chapter discusses the problem of criminalization and reasons that it exists. The chapter goes on to consider opportunities for people who have been drawn into the criminal justice system due to mental disorders to be diverted, or directed onto a different path. Diversions can happen at numerous points along the criminal justice system pathway – from first police contact all the way to post-prison reentry into the community. In this chapter, you will learn about diversion opportunities throughout the criminal justice system and consider how these approaches may reduce the criminalization of mental disorders.
4.1.3 Chapter Overview Licenses and Attributions
“Chapter Overview” by Anne Nichol is licensed under CC BY 4.0.