Mental Health Courts

Authors

• Karen A. Snedker, Chapman UniversityFollow

Files

Description

Issues of mental health and mental illness inform the current crisis in the criminal justice system and calls for reform. Specialized mental health courts (MHCs) address the growing problem of defendants with mental illness cycling through the criminal justice system. As a part of the broader problem-solving court movement, they represent an important innovation. This chapter provides a comprehensive account of MHCs from their inception to their future. Placing MHCs within a historical context, their development is described and then key features that characterize these treatment courts are detailed. The chapter concludes with an exploration the effectiveness of MHCs and specific recommendations for the next generation of MHCs are offered.

ISBN

978-3-030-77564-3

Publication Date

12-2021

Publisher

Springer

City

New York, NY

Keywords

Mental health, Problem-solving courts, Treatment courts, Therapeutic jurisprudence, Criminal justice reform

Disciplines

Criminology

Comments

In Cynthia Calkins and Elizabeth L. Jeglic (Eds.), Handbook of Issues in Criminal Justice Reform in the United States.

Recommended Citation

Snedker, Karen A. 2022. “Mental Health Courts.” In Cynthia Calkins and Elizabeth L. Jeglic (Eds.), Handbook of Issues in Criminal Justice Reform in the United States (pp. 659-684) . New York: Springer.

Copyright

Springer