Massachusetts Mental Health / Criminal Justice Cohort Study: What We've Learned

This study examined the criminal justice involvement of over 13,000 individuals who had received services from the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health in the last of 1991 and first half of 1992 and followed for roughly 10 years. The study examined a range of factors, including the array of charges lodged against this group, the prevalence of arrest and of arrest on various charges, the demographic patterns of persons with and without an arrest during the observation period, the frequency and temporal patterns of arrest, and the role of specific mental health services, such as case management and residential programming, and of local mental health service systems, in shaping those patterns. This presentation provides a brief overview of the study's general findings and the larger program of research, focusing on areas which have particular policy relevance and where findings may challenge current beliefs regarding the etiology and nature of offending in the population of individuals with serious mental illness. These findings are then used as the basis for a brief discussion of potential new directions for research and additional questions that might be addressed. Also discussed are the advantages and limitations of administrative data bases as research tools for examining patterns of offending and as the basis for assisting mental health and criminal justice agencies in developing services and intervention protocols for persons with severe mental illness.