2014/07/01 by Loraine Lim, Andrew Day · 36 citations
Medicine · Psychology · Social Sciences · #Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis #Environmental health #Healthcare Decision-Making and Restraints #Human factors and ergonomics #Medicine #Mental health #Poison control #Political science #Program evaluation #Psychiatry #Psychology #Psychopathy, Forensic Psychiatry, Sexual Offending #Public administration #Recidivism #Suicide prevention
paper · open access · doi:10.1002/bsl.2126
published in Behavioral Sciences & the Law 32(4), 539-551 (Wiley)
openalex publication_date 2014/07/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/02
The need to develop specialized judicial processes to deal with offenders with mental illnesses is now widely recognized and has led to the introduction of mental health court diversion programs around the world. At present, however, there is only limited evidence from which to assess the impact of these initiatives. This paper describes the South Australian model of diversion, with specific reference to the relationship between identified participant characteristics, program compliance rates, and re-offending outcomes. The results of a two-year recidivism study suggest that involvement with the program has a positive impact on recidivism, but that this is independent from the individual's level of success in the program. Lower risk offenders were more likely to achieve successful outcomes than those in the higher risk categories. The implications of these results, as well the factors that might inform the ongoing development of mental health court programs, are discussed.