IN-CJ Podcast: Serious Mental Health – International Challenges for Criminal Justice
The IN-CJ Webinar ‘Serious Mental Health – International Challenges for Criminal Justice’ held on 7th May 2024, covered the challenges related to mental illness in the criminal justice system across multiple countries. Dr Coral Sirdifield of the University of Lincoln School of Health and Social Care, facilitated the discussion, which explored the need for interdisciplinary collaboration between various agencies, and the importance of involving individuals with lived experiences in co-designing support systems. The discussion explored the challenges related to mental illness in the criminal justice system, and how they are manifest across multiple countries, the need for interdisciplinary collaboration between different support agencies, and the importance of involving individuals with lived experiences in co-designing support systems. International Challenges in Criminal Justice and Mental Health Tonya Van Deinse, a research associate professor at the University of North Carolina, gave an overview presentation on serious mental illness and challenges for the criminal justice system internationally. Tonya, with her background in mental health treatment, discussed the high rates of serious mental illnesses among people who generally interwact with the criminal justice system, and the need for system-level interventions. She emphasised the complexity of the issue, including cultural, sociopolitical, and legal contexts. Tonya also touched on the different ways mental disorders are diagnosed and the need to consider severity and chronicity. She highlighted the disproportionate contact of people with mental illnesses with the criminal justice system and stressed the importance of addressing system-level challenges related to mental health. She outlined the topics for the upcoming discussion, including the nature of serious mental illness, the needs of people with serious mental illnesses, and the challenges faced by justice systems. Tonya discussed the challenges faced by individuals with serious mental illnesses in the criminal legal system, emphasising the need for a multi-level approach to interventions addressing various contextual factors. She suggested utilising a sequential intercept model to promote collaboration across different systems and highlighted the importance of addressing the needs of individuals with mental illnesses before they come into contact with the criminal justice system. Tonya also underscored the necessity of organisational capacity, including screening, assessment, and follow-up processes, as well as the training of corrections officers and community supervision officers. She emphasised the need for a balance between public safety and the provision of treatment for individuals with mental illnesses. Panel Views After Tonya presented her work, the panel, consisting of Coral, Charlie and Shelley discussed the implications of Tonya’s concerns. Shelley, who is based in Victoria, Australia and has experience in forensic mental health, shared her views on issues that resonated with Tonya’s presentation. These included shared complexity in dealing with the nexus between serious mental illness and criminal justice, stigma, issues of intersectionality, significant overrepresentation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in detention, workforce challenges, and privatisation. Charlie from the UK expressed his interest in learning more about community correctional services in Australia. Charlie went on to discuss the results of a survey on probation services across Europe, with a focus on mental health policies and suicide rates. He noted that many European countries did not record suicide rates in community probation services, despite high rates. He emphasised the need for comprehensive mental health training for probation ...
