Research on reentry programs for those with serious mental illness (SMI) leaving jails or prisons has produced mixed results (Chandler &Spicer, 2006), including those for evidence-based treatments (EBT). These interventions occur in the complex nexus of the mental health and criminal justice systems and the effects of the intervention can be facilitated or constrained by the environment in which they operate (Solomon and Draine, 1995;Weisman, Lamberti, &Price, 2004;Smith, Jennings, Cimino, 2010). The goal of this training grant is to develop the knowledge and skills to explore how individual, interpersonal, and environmental factors interact with EBT for persons with SMI and contribute to poor outcomes for this population. Utilizing a multi-informant, multi-perspective framework, the environmental characteristics (policies, resources, or lack of resources) that keep individuals from seeking treatment, engaging with a support system, and returning to drug use;and potentially work to suppress the effects of the intervention will be identified. This information will be used to develop models testing how substance use, social support, and other environmental factors interact with an EBT utilized for persons with SMI leaving prison.
An examination of environmental factors will identify practices and policies that may facilitate or impede community reentry from prison for persons with serious mental illness. Understanding how environmental factors interact with evidence-based treatments will guide efforts to decrease negative outcomes for persons with serious mental illness leaving prison and aid in the translation of evidence-based treatments in to complex risk environments.
| Barrenger, Stacey L; Draine, Jeffrey; Angell, Beth et al. (2017) Reincarceration Risk Among Men with Mental Illnesses Leaving Prison: A Risk Environment Analysis. Community Ment Health J 53:883-892 |
| Angell, Beth; Matthews, Elizabeth; Barrenger, Stacey et al. (2014) Engagement processes in model programs for community reentry from prison for people with serious mental illness. Int J Law Psychiatry 37:490-500 |
