Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Rethinking Sanctioning for Offenders with Mental Health Issues: A Balanced Justice Approach

  • Published:
American Journal of Criminal Justice Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The public’s perspective regarding sanctioning offenders, especially violent and nonviolent, tend to support either a rehabilitative or balanced approach to justice. This study aims to better understand perspectives on sanctioning violent and nonviolent mental health offenders. We draw on a survey of 575 college students from a large university in the south. We assess public perceptions of whether successful reform is possible for violent and nonviolent mental health offenders, if they are willing to work to reform, and if they deserve treatment. The results highlighted a more rehabilitative attitude towards nonviolent mental health offenders and a balanced approaach to violent mental health offenders. These results suggest the importance of considering alternative approaches to sanctioning mental health offenders, including the use of crisis intervention teams and mental health courts rather than a strict adherence to punitive measures.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. In academic year 2014–2015, 48% of students enrolled at the university were White, 23% were Hispanic, and 29% were Black or other races. Additionally, 58% of the total university enrollment were female.

  2. Before combining the response options, the frequencies were as follows for violent mental health offenders: only punishment (n = 61); mostly punishment (n = 179); both equally (n = 260); mostly rehabilitation (n = 57); and only rehabilitation (n = 12). For non-violent mental health offenders: only punishment (n = 8); mostly punishment (n = 15); both equally (n = 101); mostly rehabilitation (n = 289); and only rehabilitation (n = 159).

References

  • Applegate, B. K., Cullen, F. T., Fisher, B. S., & Ven, T. V. (2000). Forgiveness and fundamentalism: Reconsidering the relationship between correctional attitudes and religion. Criminology, 38, 719–754.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Atkin-Plunk, C. A., & Sloas, L. B. (2019). Support for balanced justice and rehabilitation for justice-involved veterans. Criminal Justice Review, 44(2), 165–182.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Atkin-Plunk, C. A. (2020). Should all violent offenders be treated equally? Perceptions of punishment and rehabilitation for violent offenders with varying attributes. Victims & Offenders, 15(2), 218–242.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bales, W. D., & Piquero, A. R. (2012). Assessing the impact of imprisonment on recidivism. Journal of Experimental Criminology, 8(1), 71–101.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bronson, J., & Berzofsky, M. (2017). Indicators of mental health problems reported by prisoners and jail inmates, 2011–12. Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1–16.

  • Compton, M. T., Bahora, M., Watson, A. C., & Oliva, J. R. (2008). A comprehensive review of extant research on crisis intervention team (CIT) programs. Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Online, 36(1), 47–55.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cullen, F. T., Fisher, B. S., & Applegate, B. K. (2000). Public support about punishment and corrections. Crime and Justice, 27, 1–79.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dowler, K. (2003). Media consumption and public attitudes toward crime and justice: The relationship between fear of crime, punitive attitudes, and perceived police effectiveness. Journal of Criminal Justice and Popular Culture, 10, 109–126.

    Google Scholar 

  • Enns, P. K. (2014). The public's increasing punitiveness and its influence on mass incarceration in the United States. American Journal of Political Science, 58(4), 857–872.

  • Han, W., & Redlich, A. D. (2016). The impact of community treatment on recidivism among mental health court participants. Psychiatric Services, 67(4), 384–390.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Han, W., & Redlich, A. (2018). Racial/ethnic disparities in community behavioral health service usage: A comparison of mental health court and traditional court defendants. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 45(2), 173–194.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Henry, P. J., & Sears, D. O. (2002). The symbolic racism 2000 scale. Political Psychology, 23, 253–283.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • King, L. L., & Roberts, J. J. (2017). The complexity of public attitudes toward sex crimes. Victims & Offenders, 12(1), 71–89.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kuehn, S., Ridener, R. J., & Scott, P. W. (2018). Do criminology classes make a difference? Changes in perceptions of punishment over time. Journal of Criminal Justice Education, 29(1), 1–17.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lowder, E. M., Desmarais, S. L., & Baucom, D. J. (2016). Recidivism following mental health court exit: Between and within-group comparisons. Law and Human Behavior, 40(2), 118.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maruna, S., & King, A. (2009). Once a criminal, always a criminal? “Redeemability” and the psychology of punitive public attitudes. European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research, 15(1–2), 7–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mears, D. P., Pickett, J. T., & Mancini, C. (2015). Support for balanced juvenile justice: Assessing views about youth, rehabilitation, and punishment. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 31(3), 459–479.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Menard, S. (2010). Logistic regression: From introductory to advanced concepts and applications. SAGE.

  • NAMI. (2020). Mental Health by the Numbers. https://www.nami.org/learn-more/mental-health-by-the-numbers.

  • Piquero, A. R., & Bouffard, J. A. (2007). Something old, something new: A preliminary investigation of Hirschi’s redefined self-control. Justice Quarterly, 24(1), 1–27.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Redford, L., & Ratliff, K. A. (2018). Pride and punishment: Entitled people’s self-promoting values motivate hierarchy-restoring retribution. European Journal of Social Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2328

  • Redlich, A. D., & Han, W. (2014). Examining the links between therapeutic jurisprudence and mental health court completion. Law and Human Behavior, 38(2), 109.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ridener, R., & Kuehn, S. (2017). College education, major, or criminology classes? An examination of what drives students’ level of punitiveness. Criminal Justice Studies, 30(1), 1–16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Silver, J. R., & Silver, E. (2017). Why are conservatives more punitive than liberals? A moral foundations approach. Law and Human Behavior, 41(3), 258.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sloas, L. B., Lerch, J., & Taxman, F. S. (2015). Community supervision and diversion in the United States.

  • Sloas, L. B., & Atkin-Plunk, C. A. (2019). Perceptions of balanced justice and rehabilitation for drug offenders. Criminal Justice Policy Review, 30(7), 990–1009.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steadman, H. J., & Naples, M. (2005). Assessing the effectiveness of jail diversion programs for persons with serious mental illness and co-occurring substance use disorders. Behavioral Sciences & The Law, 23(2), 163–170.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thielo, A. J., Cullen, F. T., Cohen, D. M., & Chouhy, C. (2016). Rehabilitation in a red state: Public support for correctional reform in Texas. Criminology & Public Policy, 15(1), 137–170.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thielo, A. J., Cullen, F. T., Burton, A. L., Moon, M. M., & Burton, V. S., Jr. (2019). Prisons or problem-solving: Does the public support specialty courts? Victims & Offenders, 14(3), 267–282.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vickers, B. (2000). Memphis, Tennessee, police department’s crisis intervention team. US Department of Justice.

  • Wexler, D. B., & Winick, B. J. (1990). Therapeutic jurisprudence as a new approach to mental health law policy analysis and research. University of Miami Law Review, 45(5), 979–1004.

  • Wiecko, F. M. (2010). Research note: Assessing the validity of college samples: Are students really that different? Journal of Criminal Justice, 38(6), 1186–1190.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Florida Atlantic University, 777 Glades Road SO 221, Boca Raton, FL, 33431, USA

    Lincoln B. Sloas

  2. Department of Psychology, Albizu University, Doral, FL, 33172, USA

    Mariemilia Larrea

Authors
  1. Lincoln B. Sloas
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Mariemilia Larrea
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lincoln B. Sloas.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Sloas, L.B., Larrea, M. Rethinking Sanctioning for Offenders with Mental Health Issues: A Balanced Justice Approach. Am J Crim Just 48, 51–64 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12103-021-09620-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12103-021-09620-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation