Geographies of Behavioural Health, Crime, and Disorder: The Intersection of Social Problems and Place

209 Pages·2020·4.649 MB·English

by  Kim M. Lersch, Jayajit Chakraborty

GeoJournal Library 126
Kim M. Lersch
Jayajit Chakraborty   Editors
Geographies
of Behavioural
Health, Crime,
and Disorder
The Intersection of Social Problems and
Place
GeoJournal Library
Volume 126
Managing Editor
Daniel Z. Sui, Department of Geography, College Station, Columbus, OH, USA
More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/6007
Kim M. Lersch Jayajit Chakraborty
(cid:129)
Editors
Geographies of Behavioural
Health, Crime, and Disorder
The Intersection of Social Problems and Place
123
Editors
Kim M.Lersch Jayajit Chakraborty
Schoolof Information Departmentof SociologyandAnthropology
University of SouthFlorida TheUniversity of Texasat ElPaso
Tampa,FL,USA ElPaso, TX,USA
ISSN 0924-5499 ISSN 2215-0072 (electronic)
GeoJournal Library
ISBN978-3-030-33466-6 ISBN978-3-030-33467-3 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-33467-3
©SpringerNatureSwitzerlandAG2020
Thisworkissubjecttocopyright.AllrightsarereservedbythePublisher,whetherthewholeorpart
of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations,
recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission
orinformationstorageandretrieval,electronicadaptation,computersoftware,orbysimilarordissimilar
methodologynowknownorhereafterdeveloped.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publicationdoesnotimply,evenintheabsenceofaspecificstatement,thatsuchnamesareexemptfrom
therelevantprotectivelawsandregulationsandthereforefreeforgeneraluse.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this
book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the
authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained
hereinorforanyerrorsoromissionsthatmayhavebeenmade.Thepublisherremainsneutralwithregard
tojurisdictionalclaimsinpublishedmapsandinstitutionalaffiliations.
ThisSpringerimprintispublishedbytheregisteredcompanySpringerNatureSwitzerlandAG
Theregisteredcompanyaddressis:Gewerbestrasse11,6330Cham,Switzerland
Contents
1 Introduction: Connecting Behavioral Health, Crime, and
Neighborhood Disorder. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Kim M. Lersch and Jayajit Chakraborty
Part I Geography and Behavioral Health
2 The Geography of Mental Health: An Examination
of Police Calls for Service. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Kim M. Lersch and Annette Christy
3 Improving Estimates of the Quantity and Quality of Persons
Involved in the Opioid Crisis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
A. D. Vaughan
Part II Geography of Crime
4 Crime Hot Spots, Crime Corridors and the Journey to Crime:
An Expanded Theoretical Model of the Generation of Crime
Concentrations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Paul J. Brantingham, Patricia L. Brantingham, Justin Song
and Valerie Spicer
5 Hot Spots of Crime: Methods and Predictive Analytics . . . . . . . . . . 87
Timothy C. Hart
6 GeographicVariationsin,andCorrelatesofGreen/Environmental
Crime Across US States: A Preliminary Assessment. . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Michael J. Lynch, Michael A. Long and Paul B. Stretesky
v
vi Contents
Part III Geography of Disorder
7 Fear of Crime, Disorder, and Quality of Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Michael Chataway and Alexandra Bourke
8 Homelessness as a Fusion Policy Problem. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Abe Oudshoorn
9 Environmental Justice in the US and Beyond: Frameworks,
Evidence, and Social Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Shawna Nadybal, Sara Grineski, Timothy Collins, Alyssa Castor,
Aaron Flores, Angel Griego, Casey Mullen and Ricardo Rubio
Chapter 1
Introduction: Connecting Behavioral
Health, Crime, and Neighborhood
Disorder
Kim M. Lersch and Jayajit Chakraborty
The impetus for this edited volume began after attending a symposium titled
“Falling through the Cracks1” that examined the intersection between the mental
health and the criminal justice systems. The panel of speakers addressed a number
of critical issues pertaining to the status of mental health care in the United States,
including access to treatment for substance abuse and behavioral health disorders;
the role of jails and prisons in containing the mentally ill; and the general public’s
fearofthosewithamentalillness.Thistrepidationoftenleadstocallsforserviceto
the police to control the ‘problem,’ whether it be complaints of homelessness;
panhandling; disturbing the peace; or, in some cases, valid concerns regarding the
behavior of a violent person struggling with their disorder. Serving in their
peace-keeping role, law enforcement officers are often transformed into
“street-cornerpsychiatrists”andactasgatekeepersforboththecriminaljusticeand
mental health care systems (Teplin 2000).
Essentially, the police have three options when dealing with individuals with
mental illness. First, the officer may make an arrest and transport the individual to
jail. Estimates of the rates of persons with a mental illness in local jails vary
widely, from a low of 6% to as many as 64% of jail detainees reporting some sort
of mental disorder (Morabito and Wilson 2017). The National Alliance on Mental
1Falling through the Cracks: The Intersection between the Mental Health and Criminal Justice
Systems.UniversityofSouthFlorida,CollegeofBehavioral&CommunitySciences,October6,
2017.
K.M.Lersch(&)
SchoolofInformation,UniversityofSouthFlorida,Tampa,FL,USA
e-mail:[email protected]
J.Chakraborty
DepartmentofSociologyandAnthropology,TheUniversityofTexasatElPaso,
ElPaso,TX,USA
e-mail:[email protected]
©SpringerNatureSwitzerlandAG2020 1
K.M.LerschandJ.Chakraborty(eds.),GeographiesofBehavioural
Health,Crime,andDisorder,GeoJournalLibrary126,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-33467-3_1
2 K.M.LerschandJ.Chakraborty
Illness (n.d.) estimates that approximately15%of men and30% ofwomen injails
haveaseriousmentaldisorder.Theproblemisthatjailssimplyarenotequippedto
properly care for persons with a mental illness. A recent report (AbuDagga et al.
2016) found that one-third of jails reported that despite the fact that the staff had
limited training, a substantial amount of time and effort was focused on caring for
individuals with serious mental health disorders. Further, incarcerated individuals
with a mental illness are more likely to be charged with rule violations within the
correctionalsettingandareatgreaterriskforassaults,bothasthevictimandasthe
perpetrator (Bronson and Berzofsky 2017; DeHart and Iachini 2019; James and
Glaze 2006).
A second option available to law enforcement officers is to initiate an invol-
untary civil commitment (IC) to a mental health facility. The exact criteria for this
process may vary based on jurisdiction (Sheehan 2009). In the U.S., most states
requirethepresenceofdangerousness inorder toinitiatecompulsoryconfinement.
That is, a person must pose an imminent threat to either self (suicide) or others
(homicide) in order to be taken into custody (Testa and West 2010). The problem
with this rather stringent standard is that there are individuals with serious mental
healthdisordersthatarenotdangerousbutstillrefusemedicaltreatment.Ifthereis
nothreatofimmediatedanger,thepersoncannotbeforcedintohospitalizationeven
though a clear need for intervention and treatment is present.
This leaves the police with their third option: “informal dispositions,” or
essentially, do their best to calm the person without taking any formal action. As
discussedbyTeplin(2000)thisisnormallythefirstchoiceofpoliceofficersonthe
scene. Teplin stated that “Officers’ decisions to hospitalize, arrest, or deal with a
mentally ill person informally are based less on the degree of symptomatology
than on the demands and constraints of the situation (p. 10).” Police officers
modify their behavior based on the sociodemographic characteristics of the
community, citizen demands for service, and workload. In some areas, officers
may be actively discouraged from taking formal actions with the mentally ill
because of system overload: There simply is no place to take non-violent indi-
viduals (Lersch 2018).
Kim Lersch had the opportunity to observe the rather dramatic difference that
geographycanmakeontheactionsoflawenforcementofficers.Whileworkingon
a Federally funded research project to assess substance abuse among arrestees at
two jails in neighboring counties in the state of Florida, the primary charges for
detainees varied greatly depending on the county. The first county was known for
tourism and covered a relatively small area. It was very common for the research
team to see a relatively steady stream of arrestees for minor offenses that are often
associated with mental illness: intoxication; minor drug possession; trespassing;
public urination; vagrancy; and disturbing the peace. The terms of the grant
required the hiring of several correctional officers to assist the team. As there was
little to no overtime available to the detention deputies, there were no issues with
finding individuals who were interested in working on the project.
1 Introduction:ConnectingBehavioralHealth,Crime… 3
The second jail was less than 30 miles from the first location, but the two
facilities were worlds apart. Because the detention deputies were already working
asmuchovertimeastheircontractallowed,onlysupervisorystaffcouldbehiredto
assist the research team. The primary charges for the arrestees were for serious
criminal offenses only; one simply did not see individuals brought to the jail for
non-violent, quality of life offenses. The difference was so striking that one of the
supervisors was asked about the issue. He indicated that law enforcement officers
werestronglydiscouragedfrombringinginoffendersunlessthechargewasserious
due to the overcrowded conditions at the jail.
So, what happens to those suffering from mental illness in these two counties?
Because of the high arrest rate for non-violent offenses in the first county, it is
possible for an individual to have multiple arrests and convictions for the same
misdemeanor offense. Depending on the nature of the charge/conviction, after
multiple convictions for the same crime the charge may be elevated to a felony.
Convictionforafelonymayresultinsentencingtoprisonand,iftheindividualhas
a long list of misdemeanor convictions, the term of confinement may be longer.
In the second county, one can safely assume that while arrests are not often
made, relatively minor offenses still occur. Because individuals are not taken into
custody, the actions of the non-violent mentally ill are not criminalized. But do
theseindividualsreceiveanysortoftreatmentfortheirdisorders?Andhowdidthe
criminal justice system become so involved with the mentally ill? While a number
of explanations have been proffered, two factorsare consistently inthe discussion:
the deinstitutionalization movement and the media portrayal of the mentally ill as
violent, demonized individuals.
The deinstitutionalization movement began in the post-World War II era as a
response to growing concern over the confinement of mentally ill persons in large
state institutions, often in less than ideal conditions. Prior to this time, the insti-
tutionalization of the mentally ill was seen as beneficial and therapeutic. This
philosophy of confinement reached its peak level in 1955, when nearly half a
million patientswerehousedinstateinstitutions.Anumberofcontributoryfactors
led to dramatic changes in the care and treatment of those diagnosed with mental
illness, including growing scrutiny, medical advances, and economic incentives.
As argued by Bassuk and Gerson (1978), the public became more concerned
with the prevalence, treatment, and prevention of mental disorders when large
numbers of recruits were rejected from military service due to serious psychiatric
disorders.Thisnewrealizationoftheplightofthementallyillledtoanincreasein
fundingfor researchand training toimprovethedeliveryofservices.The growing
awarenessofmistreatment,abuse,andinhumaneconditionsthatexistedinmanyof
thestateinstitutionsbecameadriving force for change notonly forthepublic,but
for the medical and psychiatric communities as well.
Advances in medical treatment led to the development of antipsychotic drugs
including Thorazine and phenothiazine, which made it possible to control the
symptoms of psychosis, including hallucinations, delusions, depression, and anxi-
ety (Bassuk and Gerson 1978; Kim 2016; Raphael and Stoll 2013; Fuller Torrey
2015). This was a new revelation in the care of the mentally ill, as inpatient