Serving Mentally Ill Offenders Through Community Corrections: Joining Two Disciplines

Historically, the policy of deinstitutionalization has resulted in the closing of many federal and state mental health facilities. This has caused many criminal justice professionals and social workers to question where the mentally ill are placed when they are no longer in a treatment facility. With the abundance of offenders with mental health disorders in our criminal justice system, this issue can no longer be ignored. Therefore, the purpose of this article is twofold: (1) to provide insight and awareness into the magnitude of this problem, through a review of the empirical literature related to the mentally ill offender, as well as (2) to propose the union of an interdisciplinary perspective for this population that encourages the joining of social workers and criminal justice professionals. Issues and needs relative to this group will be identified and ways of improving the handling of mentally ill individuals within the criminal justice system will be suggested. © 2004 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved