Mental Health Courts
Past Research Projects
The MacArthur Mental Health Court Project
FUNDING AGENCY: The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Network on Community Mandated Treatment, Professor John Monahan
Co-Researchers: Henry J. Steadman, Lisa Callahan, and Pamela C. Robbins
The purpose of the MacArthur MHC Study is to determine whether participation in mental health courts (as opposed to treatment as usual) leads to better access to mental health and substance abuse treatment in the community, and in turn, whether increased access leads to more favorable mental health and criminal justice outcomes (e.g., improved quality of life, lowered recidivism).
Publications
Redlich, A. D., Liu, S., Steadman, H. J., Callahan, L., & Robbins, P. C. (2012). Is diversion swift?: Comparing mental health court
and traditional criminal justice processing. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 39, 420-433.
Steadman, H. J., Redlich, A. D., Callahan, L., Robbins, P. C., & Vesselinov, R. (2011). Assessing the impact of mental health courts
on arrests and jail days: A multi-site study. Archives of General Psychiatry, 68, 167-172.
Redlich, A. D., Steadman, H. J., Callahan, L., Robbins, P. C., Vesselinov, R., & Ozdogru, A. A. (2010). The use of mental health court appearances in supervision. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 33, 272-277.
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Mental Health Court Comprehension: Predictors and Influence on Treatment Compliance and Receipt of Sanctions
FUNDING AGENCY: National Science Foundation. PIs: Allison Redlich and Henry Steadman
The main objectives of this project was 1) to determine among MHC participants their level of awareness of the voluntary nature of the courts and the factors that relate to awareness; 2) to determine the level of understanding of mental health court requirements among persons accepted for the court and to determine what demographic, mental health, and criminological factors are associated with different levels of understanding; and 3) to determine whether level of MHC comprehension at entry predicts future success/failure in the court.
Publications
Redlich, A. D. & Han, W. (2013). Examining the links between therapeutic jurisprudence and mental health court completion. Law and Human Behavior, 38, 109-118.
Redlich, A. D., Hoover, S., Summers, A., & Steadman, H.J. (2010). Enrollment in mental health courts: Voluntariness,
knowingness, and adjudicative competence. Law and Human Behavior, 34, 91-104.
Redlich, A. D. (2005). Voluntary, but knowing and intelligent? Comprehension in mental health courts. Psychology, Public Policy,
and Law, 11, 605-619.
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The Influence of Mental Illness Severity and Treatment on Criminal Justice Success: The Mediating Role of Mental Health Courts
FUNDING AGENCY: The Brain and Behavior Research Foundation Independent Investigator Award.
The main objective of this project is to determine the pathways to criminal justice success (e.g., reductions in new arrests) among offenders with mental illness, with an especial focus on the roles of type and severity of mental illness and access to, and engagement in mental health treatment. A further objective is to mine the rich data collected as part of the MacArthur Mental Health Court (MHC) project.
Publications
Han, W. & Redlich, A.D. (2018). Racial/ethnic disparities in behavioral health service usage in mental health courts. Criminal
Justice and Behavior.
Han, W. & Redlich, A. D. (2016). Examining the impact of community treatment on recidivism in mental health courts. Psychiatric
Services, 67, 384-390.
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