Mental health issues and the Canadian criminal justice system**

The critics assert that a significant proportion of incarcerated individuals suffers from mental health issues, i.e. ‘the criminalization hypothesis.’ The current paper reviews the scholarly literature to address five interrelated questions: (1) What are the risks of those classified as mentally ill for committing crimes and, in particular, violent crimes? (2) As the gatekeepers to the criminal justice system, what happens during ‘first encounters’ between the police with those who have mental illnesses? (3) What community-based services are available for effective diversions as an alternative to incarceration for those with mental illnesses? (4) What are the impacts of treatment options upon those experiencing mental illnesses while incarcerated, including the impact upon recidivism? (5) What types of pre-release planning and community responses have the most positive effects to help reduce recidivism and assist offenders in coping with mental health issues in the Canadian context? After summarizing key evidence pertaining to these questions, the paper presents case studies as exemplars of ‘best practices’ to illustrate promising directions conducive to integrated, holistic, and effective responses at the intersection of the criminal justice and mental health systems.     

Law enforcement response to mental health crises: citizen risk factors and preferences for social policy*

Despite having the potential to affect cooperation and support for law enforcement, community preferences for police training are generally unstudied. This paper seeks to understand (1) general community preferences for police training for responding to mental health crises, (2) where the public prioritizes this mental health crisis training relative to racial bias training, and (3) whether these preferences vary depending on respondent demographics and risk factors for police contact. Survey data from a general sample of Portland, Oregon residents (N = 259) shows public support for police training on responding to mental health crises, but the public as a whole is split over whether mental health, or racial bias training, should be prioritized as the best use of police training time. Logistic regression analyses demonstrate three main findings regarding the impact of respondent characteristics on preferences for police training: (1) black respondents appear concerned that, by drawing attention to mental health crises, police will be more limited in their responses to racial bias; (2) respondents facing the greatest, and those with the least, amount of risk in police/citizen encounters are most supportive of mental health crisis training; and (3) mental illness itself does not appear to affect support for police mental health crisis training. These differences in support for training need to be understood before law enforcement can cultivate community support for police officers and their training practices.     

Outcomes from Referring Batterer Program Participants to Mental Health Treatment

A quasi-experimental study was conducted to investigate the impact of referral to supplemental mental health treatment for batterer program participants who screened positive for mental health problems. The principal outcome measure was re-assault reported during a periodic 12-month follow-up with female partners (n = 308). Batterer program completion and other abuse indicators were also considered. Mandatory court referral to mental health treatment produced no significant improvement in batterer program completion, re-assault and other abuse indicators. These results may be influenced by the low compliance to the referral, since the select number of men who did comply with a mental health evaluation (n = 48 of 148) and those who received treatment (n = 28 of 148) did better than those who did not. Simplified referral procedures or integrated treatment services might prove to be a more effective approach.

论精神病人的民法监护——以民事强制住院司法实践为视角

目前．世界多数国家关于精神病人强制住院的立法都直接与广义上的监护法律相联系。监护制度在保护民事行为能力欠缺的精神障碍患者的身心安全和提供必要的住院及医疗措施方面发挥了重要作用。然而,由于我国关于精神病人监护制度的法律规定较为简陋和滞后,导致了实践中,特别是在涉及民事强制住院措施适用时,很多精神病人的人身自由和健康权益并没有得到有效照管,甚至受到严重侵害,由此引起的医疗纠纷和诉讼也日益增多。在此试图对我国精神病人民法监护制度进行解构分析,以期为进一步完善适合我国国情的精神病人监护制度和维护精神病人健康权益提供一些立法建议。     

论罪犯危机干预

罪犯在长期的监禁生活中 ,因为要承受来自各方面的心理压力 ,容易导致心理危机。经过危机干预 ,给罪犯提供即时的帮助 ,可使陷入危机中的罪犯恢复身心平衡 ,度过危险的紧急救助时期。心理危机干预直接指向罪犯的情绪困扰和心理失衡 ,对于缓解心理冲突、避免意外事故、防止心态的进一步恶化具有显著的效果     

基于生命意义构建视野下的公安院校体改生心理健康教育

人是一个意义的存在，意义世界是人安身立命的基础。生命意义感与心理健康状况密切相关，教育作为一种塑造青少年健全人格的活动，有责任把学生引向意义世界，让学生在教育活动中发现和体验生命意义。对公安院校体改生进行生命意义构建的教育是新时期公安工作的现实需要。     

基于心理账户视阈下薪酬管理的探讨

心理账户理论是对于人们在心理上对经济结果等的编码、分类以及估价的过程研究。从心理账户的角度,探讨其对薪酬设计和员工福利的启发作用,从而能够更好地激励员工,提高薪酬管理的水平。     

论影响青少年心理健康的环境要素

儿童的心理发展在少年期(12-14岁)和青春前期(14-18岁)处于关键阶段, 在这一阶段打造的心理素质从个体来讲决定着一个人事业的成败,从群体来讲关系着一个国家、一个社会的兴衰。近年来,青少年心理健康问题日益成为人们所关注的话题。从系统论的观点看,影响青少年心理健康的外部环境包括家庭、社会、学校以及心理教育和世界观等,其中世界观具有统摄作用。要解决青少年的心理问题就要对各种客观要素进行分析,认清各要素的重要性及其相互关系,了解其中存在的问题,从而有针对性地提高青少年的心理健康水平。     

Working in High School and Adaptation in the Transition to Young Adulthood among African American Youth

Researchers have found mixed support for documenting whether work is protective or harmful during adolescence. This study examined the association between work and problem behaviors among African American youth (N = 592; 53% female; M = 14.8 years, SD = .60) followed from mid-adolescence to young adulthood over eight Waves (90% response rate over the first four Waves and a 68% response rate across all eight Waves). We explored three competing operationalizations of work: work history (never worked, worked), work intensity (no work, 20 h or less, and 21 h or over), and work trajectories (never worked, episodic work, stopped working, late starter, and consistent worker). Non-working youth reported higher marijuana use during young adulthood than their working counterparts. Nonworkers reported lower self-acceptance during young adulthood than those working greater number of hours per week. Differences in work trajectories for cigarette use, depression, and anxiety during adolescence imply that when and for how long youth work are also important factors to explore. Our findings lend tentative support to the work benefits perspective and suggest that the association between work and problem behaviors may depend on the work measure used. We discuss the implications of employing different work measures in adolescent research.

论罪犯心理矫治工作的组织和实施

随着心理矫治工作的推广,越来越多受命组织和实施心理矫治的监狱干警,急迫需要了解组织和实施心理矫治工作的具体做法。在指导监狱开展心理矫治的实践经验基础上,提出组织和实施心理矫治必须做好六个方面工作。