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Analysis of Mental Illness V. Drug Abuse Offenses

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Analysis of Mental Illness v. Drug Abuse Offenses
Sandra L. Manela
CRJ308: Psychology of Criminal Behavior
Currie Gauvreau
January 16, 2012

Analysis of Mental Illness v. Drug Abuse Offenses Many have criminalized mental illness and, all too often, mental illness has been used in criminal courts as a legal defense. It may be that more criminals are looking for this defense to be their ticket to criminal activity thinking that a serious mental illness would trump conviction. This has given mental illness the stigma it has today. The forthcoming analysis will shed light on the findings of four psychiatrists from the state of Hawaii; the objective, method used, the results, and conclusion of a possible linkage of the effects that mental illness and drug abuse have concerning criminal offenses.
The four psychiatrists are from the University of Hawaii. Dr. Junginger is affiliated with the Mental Health Clinical Center at the Department of Veterans Affairs in Baltimore, Maryland. Dr. Claypoole and Dr. Crisanti are with the Department of Psychology at the University of Hawaii, Manoa, in Honolulu. Finally, Dr. Laygo is with ORC (Offender Re-entry Community) Macro in Atlanta.
The mere presence of a mental illness does not guarantee that a defendant will be found incompetent to stand trial. Mental disorder classifications are published in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) and were compiled by committees appointed by the American Psychiatric Association. It lists approximately 400 mental disorders (Bartol & Bartol, 2008). This makes it so easy for a criminal to choose one best fitted for him.
The research mentioned was conducted to determine the linkage and/or effects, if any, between serious mental illness and drug abuse on criminal offenses of a group of community residents with serious mental illness and co-occurring substance abuse disorders (Junginger, Claypoole, Laygo, & Crisanti, 2006). The Hawaii site consisted of a “postbooking” jail diversion program on the island of Oahu, in which individuals arrested and charged with a criminal offense were diverted out of jail and into appropriate services at arraignment (Junginger, Claypoole, Laygo, & Crisanti, 2006). One hundred thirteen criminal offenders from the Hawaii Jail Diversion Project were identified to be respondents.
The one hundred thirteen participants were arrested for a criminal offense and met inclusion criteria for the project: current serious mental illness as indicated by a DSM-IV (newest version) axis I schizophrenia spectrum or major mood disorder and co-occurring substance use disorder. The mean±SD age was 37.6±8.8 years, and 72% were male. Other descriptions of participants include 41% white, 29% were Hawaiian or Pacific Islanders, 8% were multiracial, and 7% were Asian. The percentage with diagnostic disorders was 40% having major depressive disorders, 34% with schizophrenia spectrum disorders, and 26% with bipolar disorder (Junginger, Claypoole, Laygo, & Crisanti, 2006) . Information concerning the cause of the offense was obtained by asking the participant questions during the intake interview occurring within seven days of their arrest. The information was written down and saved for later analysis. Drs. Laygo, Crisanti, and Claypoole read the descriptions of the offenses given by the participants along with the police report descriptions of criminal offenses, then, the participants’ explanations for them. Independently, the Drs. rated the results on a 5-point scale estimating whether an offense was a direct or indirect cause resulting from mental illness or substance abuse (Junginger, Claypoole, Laygo, & Crisanti, 2006). Although serious mental illness may lead to criminal offending, the doctors documented that substance abuse was responsible for a sizable minority of index criminal offenses committed by the participants and was significantly more likely to be a casual factor for criminal offending than serious mental health (Junginger, Claypoole, Laygo, & Crisanti, 2006). The results gained from this research performed in Hawaii are not conclusive except to the findings of this one certain setting. The doctors stated that it would be further beneficial to apply their analysis to other psychiatric samples and especially those who are more symptomatic than this set of participants. While mental illness may continue to be criminalized and jails may house a large number of mentally ill people, other risk factors such as poverty, unemployment, homelessness, and substance abuse need to be better addressed by community resources and services (Junginger, Claypoole, Laygo, & Crisanti, 2006). These other factors could far outweigh the likelihood of criminal activity as compared to serious mental illness criminality. Early research literature consistently supported the position that mentally disordered individuals-even the severely mentally disordered- are no more likely to commit serious crimes against others than the general population (Bartol & Bartol, 2008). However, in response to disenchantment with the insanity defense, some states have introduced a new verdict alternative, Guilty but Mentally Ill (GBMI). This is an option intended as an alternative to, not a substitute for the NGRI verdict (Bartol & Bartol, 2008).

References
Bartol, C., & Bartol, A. (2008). Criminal Behavior: A Psychological Approach (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.
Junginger, J., Claypoole, K., Laygo, R., Crisanti, A. (2006). Effects of Serious Mental Illness and Substance Abuse on Criminal Offenses from Psychiatric Services, 57(6), 879-82. from ProQuest Database Retrieved January 16, 2012

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