The Criminalization of Mental Illness: Crisis and Opportunity for the Justice System
This is a highly insightful and important book which corrections staff, academics, students, and the general public should know about. --Ken Kerle, Ph.D, American Jail Association, March 2009<br /><br />[This book] provides extraordinary insights into the manner by which people with mental illness are processed through the criminal justice system. I thoroughly enjoyed this work and would recommend it to anyone who has an interest in issues involving mental illness and the criminal justice system. I have seen a few books in this area, but have never found one quite as comprehensive and well-researched. It is, without exception, one of the best academic books that I have read in many years. --The Southwest Journal of Criminal Justice, Fall 2008Without a doubt, it is the most comprehensive explanation of what has happened between the two systems during the past 40 or so years. It explains not only the crisis that exists and how we got here, but some interesting and innovative ways that local governments are providing solutions. ...[M]ore important than the chronicling of the impact of this social crisis, it demonstrates with pointed examples how the two systems intertwine with well-intentioned judicial and treatment policies. No matter how you view the issue of the mentally ill in prison, the book demonstrates that the person left out of the discussion is the defendant/offender/patient. --Corrections Today