Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Department of Psychiatry, New York, NY, USA; Research Foundation for Mental Hygiene, New York, NY, USA.
Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Department of Psychiatry, New York, NY, USA.
Soc Sci Med. 2022 Aug;307:115178. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.115178. Epub 2022 Jun 30.
The overrepresentation of people with serious mental illnesses in the criminal legal system has spurred information-sharing initiatives to transmit information between mental health service providers and criminal legal system stakeholders with the goal of improving resources and streamlining access to care. However, no research to date has examined the perspectives of people with mental illnesses who have their information shared across these systems or the perspectives of their family members. This study examined the perspectives on mental health-criminal legal system information sharing among people with serious mental illnesses and a history of arrest, as well as their family members.
Researchers interviewed 24 clients with serious mental illnesses and a history of arrest who are enrolled in a randomized, controlled trial of a police-mental health Linkage System as well as 11 of their family members. Participants were recruited and interviewed between November 2020 and February 2021. A thematic analysis was used to code and analyze all interview transcripts.
Study participants articulated perceived benefits and concerns around cross-system information sharing. There was strong support for information sharing in both directions, with the anticipation that such information sharing can prevent unnecessary arrest and/or incarceration, promote positive and safe interactions with criminal legal system professionals, and foster greater understanding and access to treatment. Concerns were more limited and largely related to perceived stigma around mental illnesses and the potential consequences of such stigma.
While concerns about information sharing should be considered, study participants overwhelmingly perceived the sharing of information between mental health providers and criminal legal stakeholders as a positive intervention. Such perspectives can be understood as a pragmatic choice in the face of criminal legal system contact and additional research could guide programmatic and policy changes.
严重精神疾病患者在刑事法律系统中的过度代表促使信息共享计划在精神卫生服务提供者和刑事法律系统利益相关者之间传递信息，以改善资源并简化获得护理的途径。然而，迄今为止，没有研究检查过在这些系统中共享信息的精神疾病患者及其家属的观点，也没有研究过他们的观点。本研究考察了有严重精神疾病和被捕史的人以及他们的家庭成员对精神健康与刑事法律系统信息共享的看法。
研究人员采访了 24 名有严重精神疾病和被捕史的参与者，他们参加了警察与精神卫生联系系统的一项随机对照试验，以及 11 名参与者的家庭成员。参与者是在 2020 年 11 月至 2021 年 2 月期间招募和采访的。采用主题分析方法对所有访谈记录进行编码和分析。
研究参与者详细阐述了对跨系统信息共享的看法，包括预期的益处和顾虑。对于双向信息共享都有强烈的支持，预期这种信息共享可以防止不必要的逮捕和/或监禁，促进与刑事法律系统专业人员的积极和安全互动，并促进对治疗的更多理解和获取。顾虑则较为有限，主要与对精神疾病的污名化和这种污名化的潜在后果有关。
虽然应考虑信息共享的顾虑，但研究参与者普遍认为精神卫生提供者和刑事法律利益相关者之间的信息共享是一种积极的干预措施。在面对刑事法律系统的接触时，这种观点可以被理解为一种务实的选择，进一步的研究可以指导计划和政策的改变。
