RT Article
T1 The Role of Mental Health Courts in Mitigating Family Violence
JF Journal of interpersonal violence
VO 37
IS 7/8
A1 Linhorst, Donald M. 1956-
A1 Kondrat, David
A1 Eikenberry, Jacob
A1 Dirks-Linhorst, P. Ann
A2 Kondrat, David
A2 Eikenberry, Jacob
A2 Dirks-Linhorst, P. Ann
LA English
YR 2022
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1883751497
AB Mental health courts are one potential means to mitigate violence against family members by people with mental illness. This study identified the rate at which cases of family violence come before a mental health court and the success of defendants charged with assaulting family members. In a sample of 1,456 defendants eligible to participate in a mental health court, descriptive statistics were used to report rates of admission of defendants charged with assaulting family members and their characteristics; a static group design was used to compare post-program rearrests among defendants who assaulted family members who successfully completed the program, who did not complete the program, and who did not participate despite being eligible; and logistic regression was used to determine the effect of participation on rearrest when controlling for demographic and clinical factors. The study found that family violence occurred in 24.7% of admitted cases. Most eligible defendants who assaulted family members (75.8%) participated in the court program, and among those who did, 72.2% successfully completed the program. Defendants who assaulted family members and had a positive program termination had a much lower rate of rearrest post-program completion compared with those who did not complete the program or did not participate despite being eligible, a finding that held when controlling for other factors. This study suggests that mental health courts can be an effective option for mitigating family violence committed by people with mental illness.
K1 Assault
K1 Family Violence
K1 mental health courts
K1 mental illness and violence
K1 Recidivism
K1 Victims
DO 10.1177/0886260520951316