Mental Health Treatment and Criminal Justice Outcomes

Are many prisoners in jail or prison because of their mental illness? And if so, is mental health treatment a cost-effective way to reduce crime and lower criminal justice costs? This paper reviews and evaluates the evidence assessing the potential of expansion of mental health services for reducing crime. Mental illness and symptoms of mental illness are highly prevalent among adult and child criminal justice populations. The association between serious mental illness and violence and arrest is particularly strong among individuals who are psychotic and do not adhere to medication. Two empirical studies augment the empirical research base relating mental illness to crime. In a recent community sample of adults, we find higher rates of arrest for those with serious mental illness and with substance abuse. Among youth, even with family fixed effects, antisocial personality scores predict future school problems and arrests. A large body of research tracks mental health and criminal justice outcomes associated with treatments and social policies. Reviews of the cost-effectiveness of treatments for children with behavioral problems, mental health courts, and mandatory outpatient treatment are inconclusive.

许多囚犯入狱是因为他们患有精神疾病吗？如果是这样，心理健康治疗是否是一种具有成本效益的减少犯罪和降低刑事司法成本的方法呢？本文回顾并评估了有关扩大心理健康服务以减少犯罪的潜力的证据。精神疾病以及精神疾病的症状在成年和儿童刑事司法人群中非常普遍。在患有精神病且不坚持服药的个体中，严重精神疾病与暴力和被捕之间的关联尤为紧密。两项实证研究扩充了将精神疾病与犯罪相关联的实证研究基础。在最近的一个成人社区样本中，我们发现患有严重精神疾病以及滥用药物的人被捕率更高。在青少年中，即使考虑家庭固定效应，反社会人格分数也能预测未来的学业问题和被捕情况。大量研究追踪了与治疗和社会政策相关的心理健康和刑事司法结果。对有行为问题的儿童的治疗、心理健康法庭以及强制门诊治疗的成本效益的综述尚无定论。