Concerning Mental Illness: Intersectionality, Focal Concerns and Mental Illness in Sentencing Between 1986 to 2016

• In Event: Considering Mental Health in Courts and Sentencing

Abstract

A high percentage of incarcerated individuals have a history of mental illness. It is possible that sentencing agents may consider mental illness, or signs of unreported mental illness, in their sentencing decisions, potentially impacting a significant number of people. Focal concerns theory suggests that mental illness might decrease sentence length by reducing a defendant’s culpability or increasing practical constraints, but conversely it could increase a sentence by increasing concerns of risk. Furthermore, it is possible that how mental illness is interpreted for sentencing may be influenced by factors such as race and gender, and the intersection of race and gender. Crime type may also influence how mental illness is viewed, particularly given public media attention to mental illness in violent crimes. Previous research examining the relationship of mental illness and sentencing have either relied on a single time period or have been limited to a single crime type. In this study, we use data from five waves of the Survey of Prison Inmates (SPI), spanning 1986-2016, to explore the relationship between mental illness and sentencing across different time periods, as well as possible variations by crime type, race, gender and the combination of race and gender.

Authors

• Tracy Sohoni, Old Dominion University

• Sylwia Janina Piatkowska, Florida State University