CRM 471 Mental Health and the Criminal Justice System

Empirical evidence supports the notion that there are a disproportionate number of individuals

with serious mental illness (e.g. schizophrenia, bipolar disorder) who are involved in the criminal

justice system. The National Alliance on Mental Illness estimates that in the state of Connecticut,

approximately 16% of the justice-involved population is diagnosed with a serious mental illness

(NAMI, 2016). Such justice involvement includes interaction with and subsequent arrest by law

enforcement, continued court involvement, lengthy periods of incarceration, and/or state

supervision. Therefore, this course will focus on the manner in which individuals with serious

mental illness are processed within the criminal justice system. Ultimately, the primary goal of

the proposed course is for students to develop the requisite skills to compare and contrast the

realities of mental illness and co-occurring disorders to typical criminal justice system responses.