Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-hfldf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-03T09:09:57.963Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The indistinguishables: determining appropriate environments for justice involved individuals

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 October 2019

Sean E. Evans Open the ORCID record for Sean E. Evans [Opens in a new window]  and
Shannon M. Bader
Sean E. Evans*
Affiliation:
California Department of State Hospitals, Clinical Operations, Office of Clinical Research and Program Implementation, Sacramento, California, USA.
Shannon M. Bader
Affiliation:
New Hampshire Department of Corrections, Office of the Forensic Examiner, Centurion Managed Care, Concord, New Hampshire, USA
*
*Address correspondence to: Sean E. Evans, PhD, California Department of State Hospitals, Office of Clinical Research and Program Implementation, Sacramento, CA, USA. (Email: sean.evans@dsh.ca.gov)
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Criminalizing those with mental illness is a controversial topic with a long and complex history in the United States. The problem has traditionally been dichotomized between criminals (i.e., “bad”) in need of placement in jails and prisons and the mentally ill (i.e., “mad”) who are need of treatment in psychiatric facilities. Recent trends demonstrate significant increases in the rates of mental illness in jails and prisons, as well as increased rates of violence within psychiatric hospitals. This would suggest that there are a group of justice involved individuals who are “indistinguishable” within the traditional dichotomous categories of dangerousness and mental illness. The authors argue for a more nuanced model that dimensionally conceptualizes dangerousness and mental illness; increased attention to situational factors that create facilities appropriate for those who are dangerous and mentally ill and more diversion programs for those inappropriate for incarceration or hospitalization.

Keywords

Decriminalizingmental illnesssituational variablesdangerousnessenvironment.
Type
Perspectives
Information
CNS Spectrums , Volume 25 , Issue 2 , April 2020 , pp. 122 - 127
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

The findings and conclusions in “The Indistinguishables: Determining Appropriate Environments for Justice Involved Individuals” are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of the Department of State Hospitals or the California Health and Human Services Agency.

References

References:

Chein, I. The environment as a determinant of behavior. J Soc Psychol. 1954;39:115–127. doi:10.1080/00224545.1954.9919107 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dix, DL. On Behalf of the Insane Poor. Honolulu, Hawaii: University Press of the Pacific; 2001.Google Scholar
Rowling, JK. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. 1st ed. New York: A.A. Levine Books; 1998.Google Scholar
Penrose, LS. Mental disease and crime: outline of a comparative study of European statistics. Br J Med Psychol. 1939;18:1–15. doi: 10.1111/j.2044-8341.1939.tb00704.x CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lamb, HR. Does deinstitutionalization cause criminalization?: the Penrose hypothesis. JAMA Psychiatry. 2015;72(2):105. doi: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2014.2444 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Large, MM, Nielssen, O. The Penrose hypothesis in 2004: patient and prisoner numbers are positively correlated in low-and-middle income countries but are unrelated in high-income countries. Psychol Psychother Theory Res Pract. 2009;82(1):113-119. doi:10.1348/147608308X320099 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kalapos, MP. Penrose’s law: methodological challenges and call for data. Int J Law Psychiatry. 2016;49:1–9. doi:10.1016/j.ijlp.2016.04.006 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chaimowitz, G. The criminalization of people with mental illness. Can J Psychiatry. 57(2):6.Google Scholar
ASPE. The psychological impact of incarceration: implications for post-prison adjustment. https://aspe.hhs.gov/basic-report/psychological-impact-incarceration-implications-post-prison-adjustment. Published November 23, 2015. Accessed March 5, 2019.Google Scholar
U.S. incarceration rate is at its lowest in 20 years. http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/05/02/americas-incarceration-rate-is-at-a-two-decade-low/. Accessed February 12, 2019.Google Scholar
Collins, WC. Supermax Prisons and the Constitution: Liability Concerns in the Extended Control Unit. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Library; 2004.Google Scholar
Riveland, C. Prison Management Trends, 1975-2025. Crime Justice. 1999;26:163–203.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grassian, S. Psychopathological effects of solitary confinement. Am J Psychiatry. 1983;140(11):1450–1454. doi:10.1176/ajp.140.11.1450 Google ScholarPubMed
Kupers, TA. Trauma and its sequelae in male prisoners: Effects of confinement, overcrowding, and diminished services. Am J Orthopsychiatry. 1996;66(2):189–196. doi:10.1037/h0080170 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Grassian, S, Friedman, N. Effects of sensory deprivation in psychiatric seclusion and solitary confinement. Int J Law Psychiatry. 1986;8(1):49–65. doi:10.1016/0160-2527(86)90083-X CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gomez, Madrid v., 889 F. Supp. 1146 (N.D. Cal. 1995).Google Scholar
Berge, Jones v., 172 F. Supp. 2d 1128 (W.D. Wis. 2001).Google Scholar
Bronson, J. Indicators of mental health problems reported by prisoners and jail inmates, 2011-12, 2017:17.Google Scholar
Broderick, C, Azizian, A, Kornbluh, R, Warburton, KD. Prevalence of physical violence in a forensic psychiatric hospital system during 2011-2013: Patient assaults, staff assaults, and repeatedly violent patients. In: Warburton, KD, Stahl, SM, eds. Violence in Psychiatry. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press; 2016:49–63.Google Scholar
Convit, A, Isay, D, Otis, D, Volavka, J. Characteristics of repeatedly assaultive psychiatric inpatients. Hosp Community Psychiatry. 1990;41(10):1112–1115.Google ScholarPubMed
Cooke, DJ, Wozniak, E, Johnstone, L. Casting light on prison violence in Scotland: Evaluating the impact of situational risk factors. Crim Justice Behav. 2008;35(8):1065–1078. doi:10.1177/0093854808318867 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Swanson, JW. Mental disorder, substance abuse, and community violence: an epidemiological approach. In: Monahan, J, Steadman, HJ, eds. Violence and Mental Disorder: Developments in Risk Assessment. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press; 1994:101–136. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Series on Mental Health and Development.Google Scholar
Swanson, JW, Swartz, MS, Van Dorn, RA, et al. A National Study of Violent Behavior in Persons With Schizophrenia. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2006;63(5):490–499. doi:10.1001/archpsyc.63.5.490 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Clements, CB. Crowded prisons: A review of psychological and environmental effects. Law Hum Behav. 1979;3(3):217–225. doi:10.1007/BF01039792 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bader, SM, Evans, SE. Implementing an ecological approach to violence reduction at a forensic psychiatric hospital: Approaches and lessons learned. In: Warburton, KD, Stahl, SM, eds. Violence in Psychiatry. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press; 2016:263– 268.Google Scholar
Welsh, E, Bader, S, Evans, SE. Situational variables related to aggression in institutional settings. Aggress Violent Behav. 2013;18(6):792–796. doi:10.1016/j.avb.2013.10.003 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gadon, L, Johnstone, L, Cooke, D. Situational variables and institutional violence: A systematic review of the literature. Clin Psychol Rev. 2006;26(5):515–534. doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2006.02.002 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Katz, P, Kirkland, FR. Violence and social structure on mental hospital wards. Psychiatry Interpers Biol Process. 1990;53(3):262–277.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lion, JR, Pasternak, SA. Countertransference reactions to violent patients. Am J Psychiatry. 1973;130(2):207–210. doi:10.1176/ajp.130.2.207 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cornfield, RB, Fielding, SD. Impact of the threatening patient on ward communications. Am J Psychiatry. 1980;137(5):616–619. doi:10.1176/ajp.137.5.616 Google ScholarPubMed
Rossberg, JI, Friis, S. Staff Members’ Emotional Reactions to Aggressive and Suicidal Behavior of Inpatients. Psychiatr Serv. 2003;54(10):1388–1394. doi:10.1176/appi.ps.54.10.1388 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Evans, GW. The Built Environment and Mental Health. J Urban Health. 2003;80(4):536–555.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Holahan, C. Environment and Behavior: A Dynamic Perspective. Berlin, Germany: Springer Science & Business Media; 2012.Google Scholar
Timko, C. Physical characteristics of residential psychiatric and substance abuse programs: Organizational determinants and patient outcomes. Am J Community Psychol. 1996;24(1):173–192. doi:10.1007/BF02511886 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zimring, C, Weitzer, W, Knight, R. Opportunity for control and the designed environment. In: Baum, A, Singer, J, eds. Advances in Environmental Psychology. New Jersey: Erlbaum; 1982; vol 4:171–210.Google Scholar
Criminal mental health project. https://www.jud11.flcourts.org/Criminal-Mental-Health-Project. Accessed February 27, 2019.Google Scholar
Iglehart, JK. Decriminalizing Mental Illness — The Miami Model. N Engl J Med. 2016;374(18):1701-1703. doi:10.1056/NEJMp1602959 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed