R. Slate, W. W. Johnson, Criminalization of Mental Illness: Crisis and Opportunity for the Justice System

It was with great enthusiasm that we read the book Criminalization of Mental Illness: Crisis and Opportunity for the Justice System, by Risdon Slate and W. Wesley Johnson. Amidst this monograph, several chapters were contributed by legal expert, Ronald Honberg, and psychiatric experts, Anand Pandya, Richard Lamb, and Suzanne Vogel-Scibilia. It is an invaluable contribution to both the criminal justice and mental health fields, as well as society at large. Designed primarily as a textbook for academic use, the book is clear and interesting enough to be engaging and accessible to the general public. Not only does the book seek to explain and discuss the difficulties with this population receiving adequate mental health services in America, it does what many are not able to do: It provides solutions to the problem, with the hope of “inform[ing] decisions, motivat[ing] policymakers and citizens, and provid[ing] an opportunity for positive, collaborative change” (Slate and Johnson 2008, p. 347). Chapter One briefly introduces the reader to the topic of the criminalization of mental illness. The authors begin with the notion that jails have long served as the place to house less desirable members of society and explain that individuals with mental illness frequently fall into this category due to their inability to conform their behavior to social norms. Slate and Johnson discuss that the closing of many state-run mental hospitals sparked a trans-institutionalization movement in which the U.S. prison system has become the de facto mental health treatment system. They expose the reader to the startling fact that more people with mental illness currently are receiving treatment from the correctional system than from the mental health system. In Chapter Two, the authors present a quick overview of the history of treatments for mental illness. From spiritual remedies, demonology, and exorcisms, the reader can see that from the beginning persons with mental illness were highly stigmatized. Over time, the model of mental illness shifted from the idea of possession to an understanding that mental illness is instead a disease of the mind that necessitates treatment. Despite this recognition, stigma continued to surround mental illness. States built psychiatric hospitals (i.e., state hospitals), but these institutions fell out of favor in the 1950’s and 1960’s due to inhumane conditions in the asylums and an inclination toward community treatment. Slate and Johnson undertake a variety of topics that have contributed to the criminalization of mental illness in Chapter Three. They propose that deinstitutionalization, anti-psychotic medication, negative publicity of asylums, managed care, media sensationalization, lack of funding for community mental health centers, and lack of long-term treatment have combined to create an environment that is not conducive to mental health. In this environment the mentally ill are further stigmatized and denied necessary treatment. As a result, individuals with mental illness may commit a minor crime that leads to their arrest and placement in jail. Although jails are beginning to improve the services available to inmates, when an individual with mental illness is released with no connections to community treatment they quickly decompensate and are frequently arrested again. J Police Crim Psych (2009) 24:134–136 DOI 10.1007/s11896-009-9041-3