El. knyga: Entangled: How People With Serious Mental Illness Get Caught in Misdemeanor Systems

"Overrepresentation of people with serious mental illness (SMI) occurs at every level of the criminal legal system. More than 30% of those with SMI have lifetime histories of arrest. Most of these arrests are for minor offenses, and this population is overrepresented in survival-type crimes associated with poverty and homelessness. Among the jail population, prevalence rates of having a current SMI are several times higher than those of the general population; individuals with SMI are also overrepresented among probationers and parolees. Once arrested, people with SMI are at higher risk of re-arrest; serve more days in pretrial detention; if convicted, serve more of their jail or prison sentences; and are more likely to have their probation or parole revoked than are offenders without SMI. Hence, once arrested, they become entangled. The editors of this book designed a study of the most frequent and overrepresented misdemeanor charges among people with SMI in four cities: Atlanta/Fulton County, GA; Chicago/Cook County, IL; the borough of Manhattan, New York City, NY; and Philadelphia, PA. The study objectives were to 1 identify the misdemeanor charges most overrepresented among individuals with SMI; 2 understand those charges in various contexts by conducting systems mapping exercises in four cities; 3 conduct focus groups; and 4 explain the use of misdemeanor charges among people with SMI as a foundation for further research, as well as policy and program development. The authors focused on specific misdemeanor charges such as criminal trespass, shoplifting, obstruction, and minor assault, as well as variations, which might include loitering, vagrancy, petit larceny, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct, and the like (and additional charges such as failure to appear to court and probation violation). These charges set the stage for the criminalization of serious mental illness. The book reviews reforms and policy advances in recent years in terms of alternatives to incarceration and diversion programs, attempts to imbue the criminal legal system with a rehabilitative ethos, and policies designed to reduce the footprint of the misdemeanor criminal legal system altogether. The authors emphasize the need for multisystem collaboration with a specific focus on advancing, and ensuring, racial equity in all reforms"--

People with serious mental illness (SMI) are prominently and unjustly overrepresented in the criminal legal system. More than one-third—and in some studies more than two-thirds—of those with SMI have a lifetime history of arrest. For the first time, a single volume takes a deep dive into the common behaviors, contexts, and decisions that lead to misdemeanor arrests.

Contributors representing the fields of anthropology, social work, criminology, and psychiatry draw on data from a mixed-method, multisite study (Atlanta, Chicago, New York, and Philadelphia) to examine how people with SMI become entangled in the criminal legal system and how failure to resolve underlying issues—such as underfunded social and mental health service systems and the shortage of affordable housing—plays a role.

Divided into three distinct sections, Entangled: How People With Serious Mental Illness Get Caught in Misdemeanor Systems

• Provides a historical perspective on how social, mental health, and criminal legal system policies have imperiled individuals with SMI and demonstrates the contexts that shape decision-making across misdemeanor systems.• Looks at specific misdemeanor charges that have traditionally been common for people with SMI, including criminal trespass, shoplifting, obstruction and resisting arrest, and misdemeanor assault and battery, with insight into the factors behind such charges.• Reviews necessary reforms and policy advances in the criminal legal system and the mental health crisis response system and advocates for a multisystem approach that emphasizes racial equity.

In each chapter, data-based clinical vignettes illustrate scenarios in which people with SMI have been arrested on misdemeanor charges, heightening the clinical relevance of the information. Key points summarize the main takeaways in every chapter and help readers retain important concepts.

Offering a thorough and nuanced description of current challenges as well as a vision of a better future, Entangled encourages readers to be part of crafting solutions to help individuals with mental illness—especially serious mental illness—embrace a life of recovery, hope, empowerment, and integration.

This book draws on data from a mixed-method, multisite study to analyze how people with SMI become involved with the criminal legal system. Solution-oriented at its core, this book reviews necessary reforms and policy advances in the criminal legal system and the mental health crisis response system, advocating for a multisystem approach that will help individuals with mental illness embrace a life of recovery, hope, empowerment, and integration.