Legally Mandated, Formally Pressured, or Voluntary Anger Treatment: Associations With Treatment Recommendations, Refusal, and Completion

2021 ◽  
pp. 088626052110501
Author(s):  
Michael C. Seto ◽  
Lindsay V. Healey ◽  
Adekunle G. Ahmed
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Individual Characteristics ◽  
Treatment Programs ◽  
Treatment Recommendation ◽  
Treatment Level ◽  
Mandated Treatment ◽  
Similar Treatment

Legally mandated treatment is common in the criminal justice system, for example, for anger management, substance misuse, and intimate partner violence. Past studies have compared voluntary and legally mandated treatment participants but have not distinguished a third, in-between group that is formally pressured to participate in treatment, but not mandated by the criminal justice system. The current study aimed to assess differences on individual characteristics (e.g., sociodemographic and psychiatric) and baseline measures of psychopathology (e.g., anger, aggression, and depression) across three levels of voluntariness and to determine whether voluntariness was associated with treatment recommendation, refusal, and completion at an outpatient anger treatment clinic. Data were retrospectively gathered from the clinical charts of 405 participants. Referrals were classified as voluntary (e.g., self-referred, 61%), formally pressured (e.g., required by work, 14%), or legally mandated (e.g., court order, 25%). Legally mandated participants were younger, more likely to have substance use disorder, less likely to be women, to have a high school education, or to be on psychiatric medications compared to the other two groups. Voluntary participants scored higher on measures of self-reported anger, depression, and stress than the legally mandated participants. Legally mandated participants in particular presented with non-clinical levels of anger and aggression. Level of voluntariness did not affect the decision to recommend individual or group therapy after an intake assessment, but legally mandated participants were significantly more likely ( OR = 2.30) than voluntary participants to refuse recommended treatment. Level of voluntariness did not have a significant association with treatment completion. Findings support our distinction between legally mandated and formally pressured participants, but do not support previous research that suggests legally mandated individuals have lower attrition rates in similar treatment programs. The study has implications for the criminal justice system and for anger treatment programs who admit participants with varying levels of voluntariness.

Transwomen in the Criminal Justice System

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexis Forbes ◽  
Kevin L. Nadal
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Care Needs ◽  
Legal Decisions ◽  
Gender Conformity ◽  
System P ◽  
Detention Facilities

This chapter describes transwomen’s experiences in diverse arenas of the criminal justice system, including law enforcement and corrections. Specifically, it describes transwomen’s encounters with police officers and their mistreatment while in custody. Criminalization, police violence, and micro-aggressions are discussed as strategies for enforcing gender conformity. This chapter highlights the unique social and health care needs of transwomen and their vulnerability to harassment, hate crimes, intimate partner violence, and police profiling in the community. It also discusses recent legal decisions and implications for gender-affirming treatment in detention facilities. Lastly, the chapter provides recommendations for increasing awareness of transwomen’s issues and for promoting gender-affirming practices in diverse arenas of the criminal justice system.

scholarly journals The Importance of Mental Health Courts for Psychiatry & the Criminal Justice System

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 20-23
Author(s):  
Alexander Simmons
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Treatment Programs ◽  
Mentally Ill Offenders ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Mental Health Courts ◽  
Promising Area ◽  
Legal Outcomes

Mental health courts are designed to divert mentally ill offenders away from the criminal justice system and into appropriate treatment programs. This commentary highlights the systemic issues that led to the development of mental health courts as a solution. Research has already demonstrated that these courts are associated with numerous positive psychiatric and legal outcomes. However, further research is required to determine what specifically makes them successful, and who is most likely to benefit from them. Mental health courts have earned their place as an essential part of the criminal justice system and are a promising area of future research.

Coercive control: To criminalize or not to criminalize?

2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 50-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia R Tolmie
Keyword(s):  
Intimate Partner Violence ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Intimate Relationship ◽  
Intimate Partner ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Controlling Behaviour ◽  
Criminal Justice Response

Criminalizing coercive or controlling behaviour in an intimate relationship, as has been done in England and Wales and is proposed in Scotland, has the advantage of offering an offence structure to match the operation and wrong of intimate partner violence. This article raises the question as to whether other jurisdictions should follow suit. It argues that the successful implementation of such an offence may require a complexity of analysis that the criminal justice system is not currently equipped to provide and will require significant reforms in practice and thinking. If it is not successful such an offence could conceivably operate to minimize the criminal justice response to intimate partner violence and be used to charge primary victims.

Domestic Violence Reforms: Empty Promises or Fulfilled Expectations?

1995 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 541-552 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert C. Davis ◽  
Barbara Smith
Keyword(s):  
Domestic Violence ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Court Cases ◽  
Domestic Court ◽  
Mandated Treatment ◽  
The Past ◽  
Restraining Orders ◽  
Court Mandated

During the past few decades, criminal justice agencies have radically changed the way that they respond to domestic violence incidents. Arrest had become the preferred police response to domestic incidents, prosecutors have acted to reduce the control of victims over domestic court cases, restraining orders have become more widely used, and court-mandated treatment for batterers has become common. The authors review what is known about the efficacy of these major reforms and conclude that the criminal justice system remains for from developing a set of tools that work well across a variety of situations in reducing the likelihood of future violence.

Experiences of Abused Muslim Women With the Australian Criminal Justice System

2020 ◽  
pp. 088626052093548
Author(s):  
Nada Ibrahim
Keyword(s):  
Intimate Partner Violence ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Muslim Women ◽  
Intimate Partner ◽  
System Response ◽  
Mediation Processes ◽  
Past Experiences

The confidence of intimate partner violence (IPV) survivors/victims in the criminal justice system (CJS) is important to consider when exploring intervention and prevention strategies toward deterring IPV. Information on the experiences of IPV survivors/victims with the justice system is greatly lacking. This issue is even more so for IPV survivors/victims for minority communities such as Australian–Muslims. The lack of cultural and religious sensitivity that many immigrant women experience with the CJS deters them from accessing the CJS. In addition, the contrast between the mediation processes in courts and those of religious requirements may make the mediation processes ineffective if they do not include the perpetrators in the mediation process. Furthermore, for many migrant women, their lack of knowledge about their rights under the Australian legal system renders them powerless to undertake active action against IPV in their relationships. Due to the lack of research on Muslim women’s experiences, it is difficult to ascertain how the justice system response can effectively address IPV issues for Australian Muslim women. It is therefore necessary to solicit Muslim women’s views and explore past experiences with the justice system to inform future reforms that will better meet the justice response needs of Muslim women in Australia. This article explores Muslim women’s positive and negative experiences with the justice system in response to their IPV victimization. It also investigates the constraints that have deterred Muslim women from seeking assistance from the Australian criminal justice system (ACJS), particularly in the reporting of intimate partner violence. The findings of this research give voice to Muslim women’s past experiences with the CJS. It is expected that the findings will influence practical outcomes that can facilitate strategies by the CJS to promote inclusiveness among Muslim women to increase their confidence in the CJS.

scholarly journals Mandatory treatment for methamphetamine use in Australia

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mathew Coleman ◽  
Kelly Ridley ◽  
Michael Christmass
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Drug Treatment ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Civil Commitment ◽  
Treatment Programs ◽  
Methamphetamine Use ◽  
Coercive Treatment ◽  
Treatment Regimes ◽  
Drug Problems

Abstract Background In 2016, following a flurry of government inquiries and taskforces including calls for mandatory treatment regimes, the Australian community nominated methamphetamine as the drug most likely to be associated as a problem substance. Mandatory treatment for alcohol and other drug problems in Australia consists of broadly two mechanisms compelling a person into treatment: involuntary treatment or civil commitment regimes; and coercive treatment regimes, usually associated with the criminal justice system. This paper aims to provide a review of the evidence for mandatory treatment regimes for people who use methamphetamines. Methods Using a narrative review methodology, a comprehensive literature and citation search was conducted. Five hundred two search results were obtained resulting in 41 papers that had cited works of interest. Results Small, but robust results were found with coercive treatment programs in the criminal justice system. The evidence of these programs specifically with methamphetamine use disorders is even less promising. Systematic reviews of mandatory drug treatment regimes have consistently demonstrated limited, if any, benefit for civil commitment programs. Despite the growing popular enthusiasm for mandatory drug treatment programs, significant clinical and ethical challenges arise including determining decision making capacity in people with substance use disorders, the impact of self determination and motivation in drug treatment, current treatment effectiveness, cost effectiveness and unintended treatment harms associated with mandatory programs. Conclusion The challenge for legislators, service providers and clinicians when considering mandatory treatment for methamphetamines is to proportionately balance the issue of human rights with effectiveness, safety, range and accessibility of both existing and novel mandatory treatment approaches.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document