 |
People with mental illness, and women with mental illness in particular, are more vulnerable to criminal victimization than the general population.
- Individuals with mental illness are two and a half times more likely to be victims of violent crime than the general population.[1]
- A recent study found that 85 percent of women in nine, integrated mental health and substance abuse treatment sites had been physically abused, 82 percent had been sexually abused, and 47 percent had been robbed, mugged or physically attacked by a stranger in their lifetime.[2]
When women with mental illness are victimized, the criminal justice and mental health systems frequently fail to provide them with the treatment, services, support, and protection that they need.
- Criminal justice officials and victim advocates may not understand victims' behavior, and may not know how to navigate the mental health system.[3]
- Mental health service providers, though skilled in treating mental illness, may discredit or misinterpret stories of victimization as symptoms of the individual's psychiatric condition.[4]
The failure of the criminal justice and mental health systems to respond effectively to women with mental illness who are victims of crime jeopardizes their safety and mental health.
- Women with mental illness are less likely to report crimes against them and mental health service providers may underreport crimes disclosed to them, leaving these women vulnerable to repeat victimization.[5], [6]
- People who commit crimes against women with mental illness are subject to lower rates of arrest, prosecution, and conviction than people who commit crimes against the general population, violating many of their victims' rights and allowing dangerous offenders to remain free.[7], [8]
The Council of State Governments (CSG) is coordinating a two-phased project - through a grant from the Center for Mental Health Services - that will draw attention to the unmet needs of women with mental illness who are victims of crime, and construct a core set of policy and practice recommendations for serving this population within the contexts of both the criminal justice and mental health systems.
- CSG is preparing an issue brief that reviews existing literature, provides information on existing programs and resources, and recommends the elements of a national agenda to be advanced by federal agencies.
- CSG will convene a meeting of leaders in the fields of mental health and victim services to discuss current strategies for identifying and providing services to women with mental illness who are victims of crime. These representatives will develop policy and practice recommendations, informed by both criminal justice and mental health contexts, for serving this population.
|
|