Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Police Officers’ Perceptions of Their Role in a Mental Health Magistrates’ Court Pathway

  • Published:
Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Although common in the USA, mental health courts are relatively new to the UK and their effectiveness here is not yet fully understood. Referral to these courts is largely reliant upon early identification of mental health problems, a task commonly undertaken by police in the custody suite. Little is known about police perceptions of their role in working with offenders with mental health system in the UK. This exploratory study therefore investigates police views of a pilot mental health courts and their role within the pathway to these. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six members of a large police force involved in a pilot mental health court. Data-led thematic analysis was used to identify the recurrent themes emerging. Three main themes were identified: ‘Benefits of a Mental Health Court’, ‘Police as Gatekeepers’ and ‘Barriers to Identification’. The introduction of mental health courts in the UK was viewed as being reflective of changes in approaches to criminal justice. Whilst feeling responsibility for referrals to the mental health court, time, training and multiagency working were seen as hindering this. The findings suggest the success of mental health courts is dependent upon ‘getting it right’ from the start of the pathway; recommendations are provided.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Anshel MH (2000) A conceptual model and implications for coping with stressful events in police work. Crim Justice Behav 27:375–400

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bingham WVD, Moore BV (1959) How to interview. Harper, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Booth A, Scantlebury A, Hughes-Morley A, Mitchell N, Wright K, Scott W, McDaid C (2017) Mental health training programmes for non-mental health trained professionals coming into contact with people with mental ill health: a systematic review of effectiveness. BMC Psychiatry 17:1–24

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bradley K (2009) The Bradley Report: Lord Bradley’s review of people with mental health problems or learning disabilities in the criminal justice system. Department of Health, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Braun V, Clarke V (2006) Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qual Res Psychol 3:77–101

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brewer N, Wilson C, Beck K (1994) Supervisory behaviour and team performance amongst police patrol sergeants. J Occup Organ Psychol 67:69–78

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elliott R, Fischer CT, Rennie DL (1999) Evolving guidelines for publication of qualitative research studies in psychology and related fields. Br J Clin Psychol 38:215–229

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fry AJ, O’Riordan DP, Geanellos R (2002) Social control agents or front-line carers for people with mental health problems: police and mental health services in Sydney, Australia. Health Soc Care Community 10(4):277–286

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Forni C, Caswell N, Spicer J (2009) Delivering mental health awareness training to police officers. Nurs Times 105(10):12–13

  • Gendle K, Woodhams J (2005) Suspects who have a learning disability: police perceptions toward the client group and their knowledge about learning disabilities. J Intellect Disabil 9(1):70–81

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gillig P, Dumaine M, Stammer J, Hillard J, Grubb P (1990) What do police officers really want from the mental health system? Hosp Community Psychiatry 41:663–665

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Green TM (1997) Police as front-line mental health workers. Int J Law Psychiatry 20(4):469–486

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gur OM (2010) Persons with mental illness in the criminal justice system: police interventions to prevent violence and criminalization. J Police Crisis Negotiations 10:220–240

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hayes S (2007) Missing out: offenders with learning disabilities and the criminal justice system. Br J Learn Disabil 35:146–153

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hean S, Warr J, Heaslip V, Staddon S (2009) Challenges at the interface of working between mental health services and criminal justice system. Med Sci Law 49(3):170–178

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hellenbach M (2012) Learning disabilities and criminal justice: custody sergeants’ perceptions of alleged offenders with learning disabilities. Br J Learn Disabil 40:15–22

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lamb HR, Weinberger LE, DeCuir WJ (2002) The police and mental health. Psychiatr Serv 53:1266–1271

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lincoln YS, Guba EG (1985) Naturalistic enquiry. Sage, Beverly Hills

    Google Scholar 

  • Malterud K, Siersma VD, Guassora AD (2016) Sample size in qualitative interview studies. Qual Health Res 26(13):1753–1760

  • McKinnon I, Grubin D (2010) Health screening in police custody. J Forensic Legal Med 17:209–212

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McLean N, Marshall S (2010) A front line police perspective of mental health issues and services. Crim Behav Ment Health 20:62–71

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • McLeod R, Philpin C, Sweeting A, Joyce L, Evans R (2010) Court experience of adults with mental health conditions, learning disabilities and limited mental capacity. Report 1: overview and recommendations. Ministry of Justice Research Series 8/10 July

  • McNiel DE, Binder RL (2010) Stakeholder views of a mental health court. Int J Law Psychiatry 33:227–235

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Miller SL, Perelman AM (2009) Mental health courts: an overview and redefinition of tasks and goals. Law Psychol Rev 33:113–123

    Google Scholar 

  • Morrow SL (2005) Quality and trustworthiness in qualitative research in counselling psychology. J Couns Psychol 52(2):250–260

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Noga HL, Walsh ECL, Shaw JJ, Senior J (2014) The development of a mental health screening tool and referral pathway for police custody. Eur J Pub Health 25(2):237–242

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • NVivo version 9 (2010) NVivo qualitative data analysis software; QSR International Pty Ltd.

  • Oxburgh L, Gabbert F, Milne R, Cherryman J (2016) Police officers’ perceptions and experiences of dealing with mentally disordered suspects. Int J Law Psychiatry 49a:138–146

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pakes F, Winstone J, Haskins J, Guest J (2010) Mental health court pilot: feasibility of an impact evaluation. Ministry of Justice Research Summary 7/10

  • Patton MQ (2002) Qualitative research and evaluation methods, 3rd edn. Sage, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Riordan S, Wix S, Kenney-Herbert J, Humphreys M (2000) Diversion at the point of arrest: mentally disordered people and contact with the police. J Forensic Psychiatry 11(3):683–690

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ryan S, Whelan D (2012) Diversion of offenders with mental disorders: mental health courts. Web Journal of Current Legal Issues, 1. http://webjcli.ncl.ac.uk/2012/issue1/ryan1.html [13 July 2012]

  • Scantlebury A, Fairhurst C, Booth A, McDaid C, Moran N, Parker A, Payne R, Scott WJ, Torgerson D, Webber M, Hewitt C (2017) Effectiveness of a training program for police officers who come into contact with people with mental health problems: a pragmatic randomised control trial. PLoS One 12(9):e0184377

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Seltzer T (2005) Mental health courts. A misguided attempt to address the criminal justice system’s unfair treatment of people with mental illness. Psychol Public Policy Law 11:570–586

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shaw J, Creed F, Price J, Huxley P, Tomenson B (1999) Prevalence and detection of serious psychiatric disorder in defendants attending court. Lancet 353:1053–1056

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sirdifield C, Brooker C (2012) Detainees in police custody: results of a health needs assessment in Northumbria, England. Int J Prison Health 8:60–67

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Stefan S, Winick B (2005) A dialogue on mental health courts. Psychol Public Policy Law 11:507–526

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Watson AC, Ottati VC, Morabito M, Draine J, Kerr AN, Angell B (2010) Outcomes of police contacts with persons with mental illness: the impact of CIT. Admin Pol Ment Health 37:302–317

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Winick B (2003) Outpatient commitment: a therapeutic jurisprudence analysis. Psychol Public Policy Law 9:107–144

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Winstone J, Pakes F (2010) Process evaluation of the mental health court pilot. Ministry of Justice Research Series 18/10. http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/docs/mhc-process-evaluation.pdf[20 November 2011]

  • Wolff N (2002) Courts as therapeutic agents: thinking past the novelty of mental health courts. J Am Acad Psychiatry Law 30:431–437

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton, UK

    Caroline J. Wesson & Darren D. Chadwick

Authors
  1. Caroline J. Wesson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Darren D. Chadwick
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Caroline J. Wesson.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Wesson, C.J., Chadwick, D.D. Police Officers’ Perceptions of Their Role in a Mental Health Magistrates’ Court Pathway. J Police Crim Psych 34, 285–291 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11896-019-09335-4

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11896-019-09335-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation