NCJ Number
143321
Journal
Community Mental Health Journal Volume: 24 Issue: 3 Dated: (Fall 1988) Pages: 185-195
Date Published
1988
Length
11 pages
Annotation
The process of how homeless mentally ill persons become involved with the criminal justice system was examined using information from 132 individuals who left a State hospital in the midwest from March-July 1985.
Abstract
The participants all agreed to participate and were studied for 6 months through contracts at 1, 3, and 6 months to determine who had become homeless. Before the tracking of the participants began, the researchers developed contacts among community members and law enforcement with knowledge about homeless persons. Case files were developed that contained information from the interviews with the participants and the other contacts. The analysis considered the unique demands of homeless and chronic mental illness. Results revealed that 47 persons became homeless, and that 23 of the homeless persons were arrested and jailed during the 6-month study period. Twenty-one of the 23 had histories of chronic mental illness, largely biologically based mental illness, and homelessness. Results indicated that a combination of severe mental illness, a tendency to decompensate in a nonstructured environment, and an inability or unwillingness to follow through with aftercare contributed to involvement with the criminal justice system. Changes in the mental health system that would prevent the criminalization of the homeless mentally ill would include combining community treatment with outpatient commitment and more aggressive followup. This approach would recognize that mentally ill persons with a history of homelessness and who are not compliant in taking their medication require close monitoring outside the hospital. Table, case example, and 25 references