Citation

Nijdam-Jones A, McNiel DE. Int. J. Law Psychiatry 2020; 73: e101643.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.ijlp.2020.101643

PMID

33099161

Abstract

Many communities have created specialized mental health courts (MHCs) to reduce unnecessary criminal justice involvement of persons with mental disorders. Although MHCs have shown favorable public safety outcomes, such as reducing risk for criminal recidivism and violent behavior, there has been little study of issues important to consumers, such as life satisfaction. This study prospectively evaluated the association between MHC participation and life satisfaction using data from 140 participants in a quasi-experimental research project on the San Francisco MHC. A fixed-effects regression model was used to examine whether MHC involvement predicted life satisfaction at 6-month follow-up while controlling for baseline life satisfaction, age, gender, and schizophrenia diagnosis. MHC involvement, baseline life satisfaction, and schizophrenia diagnosis significantly predicted life satisfaction at 6-months. Although the public safety benefits of MHCs are important, the present study also shows the potential for MHC to enhance important outcomes such as life satisfaction.

Language: en

Keywords

Quality of life; Life satisfaction; Consumer; Mental health courts