Document Detail


How mental health courts function: Outcomes and observations.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  20667593     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
The present study examines legal, service use and substance abuse outcomes for a sample of participants in the Washoe County, Nevada MHC and suggests what occurs during MHC enrollment that is associated with these outcomes. A comparison of participants and graduates to a comparable control group reveals significantly fewer jail days for the MHC participants and graduates, both when measured against the control group and their own pre-mental health court histories. There was also a significant drop in psychiatric hospitalization days for the MHC participants and graduates and a decrease in positive drug and alcohol tests over the course of enrollment in the court. Observations of the MHC sessions reveal a nonadversarial atmosphere in which participants interact directly with the judge and in which praise and encouragement are issued far more often than sanctions. These interactions with the judge, which are frequent and common among all MHC participants who are engaged in the process, are associated with the observed outcomes and serve to contextualize them. It is imperative that research continues on a variety of aspects of the MHC process to determine whether these courts are truly effective and if so, for whom and why.
Authors:
Kelly Frailing
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Publication Detail:
Type:  Comparative Study; Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't     Date:  2010-07-27
Journal Detail:
Title:  International journal of law and psychiatry     Volume:  33     ISSN:  1873-6386     ISO Abbreviation:  Int J Law Psychiatry     Publication Date:    2010 Sep-Oct
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2010-09-06     Completed Date:  2011-01-18     Revised Date:  -    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  7806862     Medline TA:  Int J Law Psychiatry     Country:  Netherlands    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  207-13     Citation Subset:  IM    
Copyright Information:
Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Affiliation:
Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom. kf277@cam.ac.uk
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MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Criminals / psychology*
Female
Humans
Judicial Role*
Male
Mental Competency / legislation & jurisprudence*
Middle Aged
Program Evaluation*
Substance Abuse Detection / legislation & jurisprudence
United States

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


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