Patch P C, Arrigo B A
California School of Professional Psychology, Fresno 93727, USA.
Int J Law Psychiatry. 1999 Jan-Feb;22(1):23-35. doi: 10.1016/s0160-2527(98)00014-4.
Research to date has very effectively highlighted the fact that the mentally ill are vulnerable to systematic criminalization. The reasons cited for this range from decreasing mental health resources, to restrictive civil commitment statutes, to increased numbers of mentally ill citizens in the community as a result of deinstitutionalization. However, the research has also shown that the presence of a criminalization phenomenon is not yet generalizable. The prevailing research emphasizes a macro-level approach, using either archival data or large groups of police-citizen contacts without regard for factors intrinsic to the police-citizen exchange. This article examined two such variables (police-citizen contact type and police officer type) to illustrate the need to narrow the focus in the research. We contend that our emphasis moves the criminalization debate forward and helps provide a more comprehensive understanding of the interaction between the police and the mentally ill. Further, we submit that by controlling for these two variables, research findings will more likely be generalizable and replicable.
迄今为止的研究非常有效地突出了这样一个事实，即精神疾病患者容易受到系统性的刑事定罪。对此列举的原因包括心理健康资源减少、民事收容法规的限制，以及由于非机构化导致社区中精神疾病患者数量增加。然而，研究也表明，刑事定罪现象的存在尚不具有普遍性。主流研究强调宏观层面的方法，要么使用档案数据，要么研究大量警察与公民的接触情况，而不考虑警察与公民互动中固有的因素。本文研究了两个这样的变量（警察与公民的接触类型和警察类型），以说明有必要缩小研究重点。我们认为，我们的重点推动了刑事定罪辩论的发展，并有助于更全面地理解警察与精神疾病患者之间的互动。此外，我们认为，通过控制这两个变量，研究结果将更有可能具有普遍性和可重复性。
