An Epidemiological Evaluation of Deaths in Custody Involving Persons Who Have Severe Addictions and/or Mental Illness

• In Event: Poster Session

Abstract

Following the deinstitutionalization movement of the 1960s, a large percentage of severely mentally ill persons were released from psychiatric hospitals into community mental health settings. Decades of ineffective policy has led to the emergence of a subgroup of persons who have severe addictions and/or mental illness (SAMI) within the criminal justice system (CJS). The lack of effective mental health policy within the CJS has led to poorer health outcomes for persons with SAMI and in some cases even results in mortality. Through a case-series descriptive epidemiological lens, and using death in custody data from 1997-2003 (n=289) from The Office of the Chief Coroner for Ontario, the present study explores the frequency and distribution of deaths of persons with SAMI in custodial settings. Preliminary mortality trends indicate that the death in custody of the SAMI is significantly younger compared to the non-SAMI. Results also suggest there is an association between the means of death—suicide, accident, natural, homicide, or undetermined—and the mental well-being of a person in custody. Additional results and mental health policy recommendations to be discussed.

Authors

• Adam Vaughan, Simon Fraser University

• Denise Zabkiewicz, Simon Fraser University