Submit a 1,500- to 2,000-word paper in which you:
Explain how to distinguish between mental illness and criminality, using examples from the case studies to illustrate the difference.
Explain how the criminal justice system has typically or “traditionally” addressed an offender who has committed a crime due to a mental health issue, using examples from the case studies to illustrate this approach.
Explain how the contemporary criminal justice system addresses an offender who commits a crime due to a mental health issue, using examples from the case studies to illustrate your response. For example, address the following issues:
How should the responding officer proceed?
How should this person be processed through the criminal justice system?
What are the appropriate charges, if any?
How should the judge at the arraignment hearing proceed?
In addition to using the case studies to help illustrate your responses, reference your Learning Resources to support your responses.
Learning Resources
Required Resources
Readings
Saral, T. B. (2014). Mental illness and crime. Salem Press Encyclopedia
Walsh, A., & Jorgensen, C. (2018). Criminology: The essentials (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Chapter 9, “Psychosocial Theories: Individual Traits and Criminal Behavior” (pp. 176–178)
Note: Read the “Mental Illness” section.
Criminology: The Essentials, 3rd Edition by Walsh, A.; Jorgensen, C. Copyright 2018 by Sage College. Reprinted by permission of Sage College via the Copyright Clearance Center.
Chang, A. (Host). (2018, February 28). A look at the narrow point of intersection between mental health and gun violence [Radio broadcast episode transcript]. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/2018/02/28/589600339/a-look-at-the-narrow-point-of-intersection-between-mental-health-and-gun-violenc
Peak, K. J., & Madensen, T. D. (2018). Introduction to criminal justice: Practice and process (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
“The ‘New Asylums’: The Mentally Ill in the Criminal Justice System” (pp. 422–426)
Introduction to Criminal Justice: Practice and Process, 3rd Edition by Peak and Madensen. Copyright 2018 by Sage Publications, Inc. Reprinted by permission of Sage Publications, Inc. via the Copyright Clearance Center.
Vogel, M. (2014). Mental illness and criminal behavior. Sociology Compass, 8(4), 337–346. doi:10.1111/soc4.12140
Vogel, M., Stephens, K. D., & Siebels, D. (2014). Mental illness and the criminal justice system. Sociology Compass, 8(6), 627–638. doi:10.1111/soc4.12174
Lord, V. B., & Bjerregaard, B. (2014). Helping Persons with Mental Illness: Partnerships between Police and Mobile Crisis Units. Victims & Offenders, 9(4), 455–474.
Note: Only read pages 455–460 of this selection.
Rennison, C. M., & Dodge, M. (2018). Introduction to criminal justice: Systems, diversity, and change (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Chapter 3, “Criminal Justice and the Law” (p. 90)
Note: Focus on the features of the insanity plea on this page.
Introduction to Criminal Justice: Systems, Diversity, and Change, 2nd Edition by Rennison, C. M.; Dodge, M. Copyright 2018 by Sage College. Reprinted by permission of Sage College via the Copyright Clearance Center.
Bronson, J., & Berzofsky, M. (2017). Indicators of mental health problems reported by prisoners and jail inmates, 2011–12 (NCJ Publication No. 250612). Retrieved from https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/imhprpji1112.pdf
Document: The Intersection of Mental Illness and Crime: Three Case Studies (PDF)
