Relationship between race and ethnicity and forensic clinical triage dispositions
UMass Chan Affiliations
Department of PsychiatryDocument Type
Journal ArticlePublication Date
2004-08-05Keywords
AdultCrime
Ethnic Groups
Female
Forensic Psychiatry
Humans
Male
Massachusetts
Mental Disorders
Mental Health Services
Referral and Consultation
Triage
Life Sciences
Medicine and Health Sciences
Psychiatry
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
OBJECTIVE: Racial and ethnic disparities in the criminal justice system have been widely reported, as have racial and ethnic disparities in diagnoses and certain aspects of clinical management. This study examined the association between race and ethnicity and dispositions for pretrial defendants who were referred for forensic mental health evaluations. METHODS: Available data were reviewed for all defendants in Massachusetts who were referred to a Massachusetts court clinic from 1994 to 2001 for a screening evaluation of their competence to stand trial, their criminal responsibility, or both. Logistic regression models were developed to assess the relationship between defendants' race and ethnicity and the likelihood that they would be referred for inpatient evaluation and the likelihood that they would be evaluated within a strict-security facility. Race or ethnicity of the pretrial defendants was identified by clinicians. RESULTS: Blacks, but not Hispanics, were significantly more likely than whites to be referred for an inpatient evaluation after an outpatient forensic screening evaluation. Among male defendants, both Hispanics and blacks were more likely than whites to be referred for an inpatient evaluation in a strict-security facility, regardless of diagnoses and the level of severity of the criminal charges. CONCLUSIONS: Racial and ethnic disparities in disposition decisions exist within the forensic mental health system. These disparities, however, likely reflect numerous clinician and nonclinician variables.Source
Psychiatr Serv. 2004 Aug;55(8):873-8. Link to article on publisher's siteDOI
10.1176/appi.ps.55.8.873Permanent Link to this Item
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14038/39034PubMed ID
15292536Related Resources
Link to Article in PubMedae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1176/appi.ps.55.8.873