Mental Health And Criminology

History of Mental Health and Criminology

Mental health and criminal activity often collide when looking at the criminal justice system in this country. Psychology and political science are viewed as conflicting fields. Only recently in American history has forensic psychology been viewed as a necessity in the criminal justice system (Webb, n.d.). An example of this conflict occurred in 1962, when psychologists were called on as mental illness experts in the Jenkins vs. United States case. This case specifically gave insight as to how there is a correlation between mental health and criminology. The results of this case deemed some psychologists are qualified to be called upon as experts to give testimony on mental disorders (Jenkins v. United States, 2014).

More recently, the relationship between mental illness and criminal behavior has been more talked about among mental health and legal professionals. This topic has been the focus of many debates and caused much controversy when legally handling the prosecuting of people who have committed violent crimes. Since the mid-1980s, scholarly work has investigated a possible relationship between mental illness and crime with more regularity. Results of these studies have shown an association between mental disorders and crime (Sirotich, 2008).

More recently, the American Psychological Association recognized forensic psychology as a specialization within psychology (American Psychological Association, 2001). In the past 20 years the topic of mental stability and mental disability has become noteworthy in the criminal justice system (A Free and Comprehensive Guide to the World of Forensic Psychology, n.d.). The issue of treating and incarcerating those who are diagnosed with a mental ...

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...in the community, unlikely to participate in outpatient services, etc.

In 2004, congress passed and the Mentally Disordered Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act (S.1194). This act, which was approved by congress and the president, was meant to improve access to mental health services for offenders of all ages. The Mental Health Courts Program was created through "America's Law Enforcement and Mental Health Project" (Public Law 106-515). Mental health court programs were specifically designed to address the issues surrounding mental health disorders and criminology. These programs are significantly lessening the likeliness to re-offend than those people with mental illness being handled through the traditional court. These relatively recent acts address the need for policies to focus on to reducing offending and reoffending among those with mental illness.