Life Changes Matter More Than Satisfaction or Sanctions/Incentives: An Examination of Mental Health Court Experience Factors Associated with Arrest

Abstract

While current evaluation studies have shown consistent and strong evidence of reducing recidivism for mental health court (MHC) programs, few studies have explored the potential factors that may lead to this success. The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of participants’ experiences (i.e., program satisfaction, life changes, sanction/incentives) on justice outcomes in MHC. Data are from the MacArthur MHC Project which includes objective and subjective information from four MHC samples with comparison samples at each site (CAs, MN, and IN; N = 355). Multilevel negative binomial regression was conducted to control for over-dispersion variable and site difference. Findings suggest that more sanctions are associated with increased number of future arrests whereas positive life changes (e.g., daily problems, symptoms, family relationship) are associated with reduced recidivism among MHC participants. Results underscore the importance of actual changes in the offenders’ lives to decrease recidivism. In order to effectively handle offenders with mental illness, who happen to be an over-represented population in the justice system, MHC staff and stakeholders need to work on how the program could change participants’ everyday life issues instead of proving the treatment alone.

Keywords:

• Mental health court
• court experience
• criminal behavior
• life changes
• recidivism
• innovative court system