Citation

Arvanites TM. Bull. Am. Acad. Psychiatry Law 1989; 17(3): 311-320.

Affiliation

Department of Sociology, Villanova University.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1989, American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

2790227

Abstract

Previous studies have reported that state mental hospital deinstitutionalization has resulted in the processing of the mentally ill through the criminal justice system. Using pre- and postdeinstitutionalization samples of defendants found incompetent to stand trial (IST) selected from three states, this study examines changes in the mental health and arrest histories of white and nonwhite ISTs. These data reveal a significant increase in the number of nonwhite ISTs. Also, after deinstitutionalization, nonwhite ISTs had significantly more prior arrests and hospitalizations than white ISTs. There were, however, no differences in the offenses for which whites and nonwhites were arrested.

Language: en