Mentally Disordered Offenders Under Community Supervision

Offenders with serious mental illness (schizophrenia, bipolar, major depression) are overrepresented in criminal justice settings. Most offenders – both with and without mental illness – are not incarcerated but instead are supervised in the community on probation and parole. Offenders with serious mental illness are more likely to fail on community supervision than their relatively healthy counterparts. With a focus on community supervision in North America, this entry distills research on (1) explanations for why offenders with mental illness are at increased risk for supervision failure and (2) promising- and evidence-based practices for reducing this risk