Policing Mentally Disordered Suspects: A Reexamination of the Criminalization Hypothesis*

Engel, Robin S.; Silver, Eric

doi:10.1111/j.1745-9125.2001.tb00922.x

Cited by 221 publications

(227 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…More recent research has also suggested that police officers are more likely to arrest individuals with a mental disorder (Teplin & Pruett, 1992), though the reverse has also been found (Engel & Silver, 2001;Watson, et al, 2004). This indicates that if MD suspects are viewed negatively, the way they are treated may be different due to the set of myths, stereotypes or beliefs that the MD label can evoke (Link et al, 1999;Scheff, 1966).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Police officers' perceptions and experiences with mentally disordered suspects

Oxburgh

Gabbert

Milne

et al. 2016

International Journal of Law and Psychiatry

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Police officers' perceptions and experiences with mentally disordered suspects AbstractDespite mentally disordered suspects being over-represented within the criminal justice system, there is a dearth of published literature that examines police officers' perceptions when interviewing this vulnerable group. This is concerning given that police officers are increasingly the first point of contact with these individuals. Using a Grounded Theory approach, this study examined 35 police officers' perceptions and experiences when interviewing mentally disordered suspects. Current safeguards, such as Appropriate Adults, and their experiences of any training they received were also explored. A specially designed questionnaire was developed and distributed across six police forces in England and Wales. Nine conceptual categories emerged from the data that highlighted how police officers' level of experience impacted upon their perceptions when dealing with this cohort. As a consequence, a new model grounded within Schema Theory has emerged termed Police Experience Transitional Model.Implications include the treatment and outcome of mentally disordered suspects being heavily dependent on whom they encounter within the criminal justice system.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Police officers' perceptions and experiences with mentally disordered suspects

Oxburgh

Gabbert

Milne

et al. 2016

International Journal of Law and Psychiatry

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Specifically, incident-level factors-such as the severity of the offense, the role of substance abuse or community priorities, and resulting police agency policies-were absent from these original studies (2). Furthermore, this work did not adequately consider the police decision-making process or police behavior-crucial elements of police discretion (18).…”

Section: The Criminalization Hypothesismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In another test of the criminalization hypothesis, Engel and Silver (18) found that when the analyses controlled for other factors, police were less likely to arrest people with mental illness, compared with other suspects, and that mental illness can act in some models as a protective factor. These findings have been replicated in subsequent studies (19).…”

Section: The Criminalization Hypothesismentioning

confidence: 99%

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Horizons of Context: Understanding the Police Decision to Arrest People With Mental Illness

Morabito¹

2007

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The criminalization hypothesis assumes that deinstitutionalization coupled with inadequate police training has led to the increased arrest of people with mental illness. Arrest is viewed as a means to manage the troublesome behavior that often results from mental illness. Supporting research has emphasized the contributing role that illness plays in the arrest decision. This assumption largely ignores an extant criminal justice literature on the factors that influence arrest. On the basis of a review of this criminal justice literature, beginning with Bittner's 1967 seminal work, a framework is proposed that incorporates three contexts-manipulative, temporal, and scenic-surrounding the police encounter and the relationship of these contexts to mental illness. These three "horizons" incorporate the characteristics of the community, the offender, and the incident, all of which are recognized as influential in shaping police discretion. The scenic horizon is indicative of the features of the community. The temporal horizon includes police knowledge that stretches beyond the specific incident and officer characteristics. The manipulative horizon involves the current incident from the standpoint of the officer and includes considerations of safety for the community as well as the immediate concerns of the officer. Implications of this framework are then explored with respect to both police and mental health service mandates.

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“…Recent studies of policing lend no support to the premise that officers systematically use arrest as a means of managing the behavior of persons with mental illness. For example, Engel and Silver (2001), analyzing data from two large-scale, multi-site studies of police behavior, found that police were in fact not more likely to arrest mentally disordered suspects. Another line of inquiry has examined the movement of persons with mental illness between settings operated by the mental health and criminal justice systems, one of the factors that led to Abramson's (1972) original raising of the criminalization issue.…”

Section: Testing the Criminalization Constructmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond Criminalization: Toward a Criminologically Informed Framework for Mental Health Policy and Services Research

Fisher

Silver

Wolff

2006

Adm Policy Ment Health

Self Cite

191

121

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The problems posed by persons with mental illness involved with the criminal justice system are vexing ones that have received attention at the local, state and national levels. The conceptual model currently guiding research and social action around these problems is shaped by the "criminalization" perspective and the associated belief that reconnecting individuals with mental health services will by itself reduce risk for arrest. This paper argues that such efforts are necessary but possibly not sufficient to achieve that reduction. Arguing for the need to develop a services research framework that identifies a broader range of risk factors for arrest, we describe three potentially useful criminological frameworks-the "life course," "local life circumstances" and "routine activities" perspectives. Their utility as platforms for research in a population of persons with mental illness is discussed and suggestions are provided with regard to how services research guided by these perspectives might inform the development of community-based services aimed at reducing risk of arrest.

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Policing Mentally Disordered Suspects: A Reexamination of the Criminalization Hypothesis*

Cited by 221 publications

References 43 publications

Police officers' perceptions and experiences with mentally disordered suspects

Police officers' perceptions and experiences with mentally disordered suspects

Horizons of Context: Understanding the Police Decision to Arrest People With Mental Illness

Beyond Criminalization: Toward a Criminologically Informed Framework for Mental Health Policy and Services Research

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