Analyzing Offense Patterns as a Function of Mental Illness to Test the Criminalization Hypothesis

Targeting Criminal Recidivism in Mentally Ill Offenders: Structured Clinical Approaches

“…Similarly, a specialized probation approach for justice-involved individuals with mental illness was superior to general probation in terms of decreased recidivism; however, the improvement was unrelated to symptom amelioration (Skeem et al 2009). Such observations make sense in light of other studies demonstrating that symptoms of serious mental illness are related to criminal behavior in fewer than 10% of offenses (Jurginger et al 2006;Peterson et al 2010).…”

Helping Persons with Mental Illness: Partnerships between Police and Mobile Crisis Units

“…The illness needs to have duration of at least one year (National Institute of Mental Health, 2012). Unlike other agencies, law enforcement officers must be prepared to make decisions based on a "heterogeneous pattern of offending that may stem from a variety of sources" (Peterson et al, 2010(Peterson et al, , p. 1217 in which the PSMI's illness plays a central role. Our study also supports Swanson and colleagues' (1999) findings that law enforcement-referred calls are more likely to be diverted by the MCU rather than allowed to remain in their current setting.…”

“…He found that PMI were increasingly being arrested for minor offenses. The criminalization hypothesis advances that PMI are overrepresented in the criminal justice system because of the lack of resources available in the community (Peterson, Skeem, Hart, Vidal, & Keith, 2010;Teplin & Pruett, 1992). In addition to the lack of resources and the deinstitutionalization movement, the increasing difficulty with procuring a civil commitment has also been cited as a reason for the increased presence of PMI in the criminal justice system (Lamb & Weinberger, 2011).…”

“…These factors have been previously found to play a critical role in the decision of whether or not to divert a PMI (Engle & Silver, 2006;Engel, Sobol, & Worden, 2000;Peterson et al, 2010;Swanson et al, 1999;Teplin & Pruett, 1992). These factors include the presence of major mental illness disorders (mood, psychotic, and substance abuse), all of which are measured as dichotomous variables where the 1 code indicates the presence of the disorder.…”

“That’s Just the Tip of It Because It Goes Deeper Than That”: A Qualitative Exploration Into the Role of Mental Illness in Offending Onset and Subsequent Offending Behavior

“…Findings from more recent studies suggest that these early interventions that only focused on treating mental illness did not work because the majority of offenders with mental illness appeared to be engaging in offending behavior due to factors outside of their mental disorder (Peterson, Skeem, Hart, Vidal, & Keith, 2010;Peterson, Skeem, Kennealy, Bray, & Zvonkovic, 2014). Furthermore, several studies have found that many of the strongest risk factors for crime and recidivism are the same for offenders with and without mental illness (Bonta, Law, & Hanson, 1998;Junginger, Claypoole, Laygo, & Crisanti, 2006).…”