Completed Research
Understanding Arrest and Its Precursors
The Relationship between Juvenile Justice Involvement and Mental Health
Conceptualizing Mental Health Courts and their Evaluations
Modeling the Structures and Processes of Reentry Planning for Inmates with Mental Illness
Dynamics of the Social Capital of Prisoners
Relationship Influences for Probationers with Dual Diagnoses
Sex Offender Recidivism and Legislation
Working Together: Academic-Practice Partnerships
Understanding Arrest and Its Precursors
Previous investigations of criminal justice encounters by persons with mental illness have been useful in understanding the management of offenders with serious mental illness in the earliest stages of criminal justice processing. The next stage in research to support new strategies of intervention requires that the field identify intercept points that precede criminal justice involvement for these individuals and where appropriate interventions might prove preventative. This project developed a conceptual model of the criminal justice "encounter" and the events preceding it and identified potential mechanisms for altering the course of events at intercept points preceding the encounter. The developmental work here synthesized existing theories in a manner that can be reflected in a new set of instruments for data collection.
For more information regarding this project, E-mail Dr. William Fisher.
Related Publications:
Draine, J. (2003). Where is the “illness” in the criminalization of mental illness? In W. H. Fisher (Ed.), Community-based interventions for criminal offenders with severe mental illness. (pp. 9-11). Oxford: Elsevier Science.
Fisher, W.H., Banks, S.M., Roy-Bujnowski, K., Grudzinskas, A.J., Simon, L.J., & Wolff, N. (2009). Categorizing temporal patterns of arrest in a cohort of adults with serious mental illness, The Journal of Behavioral Health Services and Research.
Fisher, W. H., Silver, E., & Wolff, N. (2006). Beyond “criminalization”: Developing a criminologically-informed framework for mental health policy and services research. Administration and Policy in Mental/Mental Health Services Research, 33, 544-557.
Fisher, W. H., Wolff, N., & Roy-Bujnowski, K (2003). Community mental health services and criminal justice involvement among persons with mental illness. In W.H. Fisher (Ed.), Community-based interventions for offenders with severe mental illness (pp. 25-51). Oxford: Elsevier Science.
Silver, E. (2006). Understanding the relationship between mental disorder and violence:
The need for a criminological perspective. Law and Human Behavior, 30, 685-706.
Wolff, N. (2008). Law and disorder: The case against diminished responsibility. In D. Evans, & E. Rhine (Eds.), What works: Research into practice: Bridging the gap in community corrections. International Community Corrections Council and the American Correctional Association.
The Relationship between Juvenile Justice Involvement and Mental Health
This project used the Pittsburgh Youth Study, a longitudinal study of adolescent males, to assess whether various mental health problems including mood, thought, and behavioral disorders increase the risk of subsequent arrest and to examine the effect of involvement in the justice system in general, and secure confinement in particular, on changes in mental health status. Results will inform the discussion of whether efforts to prevent the involvement of youth with mental health problems in the justice system should focus primarily on reducing problem behaviors such as delinquency and substance use or on improving the justice system's capacity to identify, divert, and/or treat mentally troubled youth. The study also provides evidence on whether mental health services exert a protective influence on juvenile justice involvement or its adverse consequences.
For more information regarding this project, E-mail Dr. Helene White.
Related Publications:
Hirschfield, P., Maschi, T., White, H. R., Goldman-Traub, L., & Loeber, R. (2006). Mental health and juvenile arrests: Criminality, criminalization, or compassion? Criminology, 44, 593-630.
White, H.R., Jarrett, J., Valencia, E.Y, & Loeber, R. (2007). Stages and sequences of initiation and regular substance use in a longitudinal cohort of black and white male adolescents. Journal of Studies of Alcohol and Drugs. 68, 173-181.
Conceptualizing Mental Health Courts and their Evaluations
The primary goal of this research was to study ways in which courts and the broader legal system might be involved with meeting the therapeutic needs of defendants with mental illness and how various types of court-based “bridge” interventions function relative to the “usual approach” adjudication process in communities without such interventions. This project developed a conceptual model of mental health court interventions, focusing on theoretical issues that are likely to limit the interventions potential and methodological issues that challenge measuring its effectiveness.
For more information regarding this project, E-mail Dr. Nancy Wolff
Related Publications:
Draine, J., Blank, A., & Pogorzelski, W. (2007). Limitations and potential in current research on services for people with mental illness in the criminal justice system. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 6, 159-177.
Wolff, N. (2003). Courting the court: Courts as agents for treatment and justice. In W. H. Fisher (Ed.), Community-based interventions for offenders with severe mental illness (pp. 143-197). Oxford: Elsevier Science.
Wolff, N. (2002). Courts as therapeutic agents: Thinking past the novelty of mental health courts. Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, 30, 431-437.
Wolff, N., & Pogorzelski, W. (2005). Measuring the effectiveness of mental health courts: Challenges and recommendations. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 11, 539-569.
Modeling the Structures and Processes of Reentry Planning of Inmates with Mental Illness
This project brought together researchers who have been focused on the back door of jails and prisons in their prior work – the reentry point. The goal was to collaborate on how to advance the work in the area of offenders with mental illness and reentry into the community. The research resulted in a conceptual framework for understanding the successful transition of persons with mental illness away from jails and prisons and toward integration into the community. In addition, the research team undertook a review of the policy-created barriers to reentry, an assessment of reentry needs inside prison and jail, an estimate of the cost of reentry program for people with mental illness leaving prison, and a national survey of reentry programs for persons with mental illness leaving jail or prison. Fifty-eight reentry programs were identified. Data were used to develop a typology of reentry strategies.
For more information regarding this project, please E-mail Dr. Jeffrey Draine
Related Publications:
Blitz, C., Wolff, N., Pan, K., & Pogorzelski, W. (2005). Mental illness in prison and its impact on community residence post-release: Implications for Recovery and Community Integration. American Journal of Public Health 95(10), 1741-1746.
Draine, J., Blank, A., & Pogorzelski, W. (2007). Limitations and potential in current research on services for people with mental illness in the criminal justice system. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 6, 159-177.
Draine, J., Wolff, N., Jacoby, J.E., Hartwell, S., & Duclos, C. (2005). Understanding community reentry of former prisoners with mental illness: A conceptual model to guide new research. Behavioral Services and the Law, 23, 689-707.
Pogorzelski, W., Wolff, N., Pan, K., & Blitz, C. (2005). Are second chances possible? The reality of public policy on reentry for ex-offenders with behavioral health problems. American Journal of Public Health, 95, 1718-1724.
Wolff, N. (2005). Community reintegration of prisoners with mental illness: A social investment perspective. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 28, 43-58.
Wolff, N., Maschi, T., & Bjerklie, J.R. (2004). Profiling mentally disordered offenders: A case study of New Jersey prison inmates. Journal of Correctional Health Care, 10, 1-16.
Wolff, N., Maschi, T., & Bjerklie, J.R. (2005). Reentry planning for mentally disordered inmates: A social investment approach. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 42, 21-42.
Wolff, N., Plemmons, D., Veysey, B., & Brandli, A. (2002). Release planning for inmates with mental illness compared with those who have other chronic illnesses. Psychiatric Services, 53, 1469-1471.
Dynamics of the Social Capital of Prisoners
Using focus group discussions and semi-structured interviews, this research explored the social capital of people inside prison, focusing on the use of family-based assets at the point of reentry and what types of assistance these individuals are likely to accept and under what conditions. The team wrote a paper commissioned by the Urban Institute on the social capital of prisoners.
For more information regarding this project, E-mail Dr. Nancy Wolff
Related Publications:
Wolff, N., & Draine, J. (2004). The dynamics of social capital of prisoners and community reentry: Ties that bind? Journal of Correctional Health Care, 10, 457-490.
Draine, J., & Herman, D.B. (2007). Critical time intervention for reentry from prison for persons with mental illness. Psychiatric Services, 58, 1577-1581.
Relationship Influences for Probationers with Dual Diagnoses
Each year, an increasing number of adults with serious mental illness are placed on probation. The vast majority of these individuals have co-occurring substance abuse problems, or dual diagnoses. Yet even state-of-the-art treatment programs that improve symptoms do not appear to affect criminal justice outcomes. The most likely reasons are that the programs fail to target risk factors for crime and violence, including negative peer associations; introduce intensive monitoring, leading to increased discovery of negative behavior, and fail to blend social control effectively into the usual therapeutic alliance with clients. This pilot study explored the clinician-client relationship factors that, if targeted, could increase treatment engagement and reduce these individuals’ rate of violations and re-arrest.
For more information regarding this project, E-mail Dr. Jennifer Skeem
Related Publications:
Skeem, J., & Eno Louden, J. (2006). Toward evidence-based practice for probationers and parolees mandated to mental health treatment. Psychiatric Services, 57, 333-352.
Sex Offender Recidivism and Legislation
The Center for Behavioral Health Services & Criminal Justice Research, in conjunction with the New Jersey Department of Corrections, conducted a study of recidivism rates of sexual offenders released from New Jersey institutions. Sexual offenders include those diagnosed as repetitive and compulsive, as well as sex offenders who do not meet this categorization. The project analyzed the levels of re-offending, both sexual and nonsexual at the three-year, five-year, and seven-year periods. Results from this study will add to the existing body of knowledge concerning the levels of recidivism among sex offenders and the timeframe of its occurrence. In addition, the researchers also critically analyzed the legal, social, and political history of sex offender legislation with emphasis on their intended and unintended consequences.
For more information regarding this project, E-mail Dr. Michelle Meloy.
Related Publications:
Meloy, M., Shaleh, Y., Shi, J., & Wolff, N. The criminal desistance and persistence of sex offenders re-entering society: How to encourage law conforming behavior, under review.
Meloy, M., Shaleh, Y., & Wolff, N. (2007). Sex offender laws in America: Can panic-driven legislation ever create safer societies? Criminal Justice Studies, 20, 423-443.
Working Together: Academic-Practice Partnerships
Investigators interested in conducting research within and on the criminal justice system have to work with their state environments. Productive partnerships are essential to getting research conducted and the findings disseminated. Over the past seven years, the Center has worked effectively and productively with the New Jersey Department of Corrections, State Parole Board, and Division of Mental Health Services to conduct (oft-times mandated) studies of sex offender recidivism, reentry services for people with serious mental illness leaving jail and prison, and victimization inside prison. Building strategic academic-practice partnerships is challenging but critical for research on the mental health-addiction-criminal justice nexus. Based on their experiences of working together, affiliates of the Center and the New Jersey Department of Corrections published several papers on what makes or breaks these partnerships.
For more information regarding this project, E-mail Dr. Nancy Wolff
Related Publications:
Wolff, N., & Gerardi, D. (2007). Building evidence on best practice through corrections-academic partnerships: Getting to successful practice. Crime and Justice International, 23(May/June), 13-22.
Gerardi, D., & Wolff, N. (2008). Working together: A corrections-academic partnership that works. Equal Opportunities International, 27, 148-160.
