Criminal Justice Victimology Lit Review

Challenges in Crisis Mental Interventions

Ruben Castellon

FTCC

CJC-214

4 September 2020

REVIEW OF A JOURNAL ARTICLE: Challenges Relating to the Interface between Crisis Mental Health Clinicians and Police When Engaging with People with a Mental Illness

Problem

Police officers are normally the first ones who respond to incidents involving persons with mental illness behavior and every attempt is made by the police to obtain mental health assistance for those who need the help. However, this is not achieved because of the lack of effective inter-service integration because of the inefficient communication, difficulty accessing support from the interfacing services such as emergency departments, and the fact that staffs not respect the professional abilities of staff from interfacing services. The problem faced by all departments when dealing with persons with mental illnesses, is that all departments including the police staff and other staff personnel from such departments as mental health clinics do not respect each other’s professions and the end result is that persons with mental illnesses who should be receiving proper mental health assistance are not receiving such assistance which in turn worsens the outcomes for those with mental illnesses.

Comments: The problem statement agreed with the title and indicates that there has been insignificant research to study whether challenges to successful cross-service inter-action have been addressed. It would take the average reader several times to identify what the authors of this study’s aim were to identify the strategies to enhance the care for persons with mental illnesses and service collaboration. The exploration of this study would also be better served by including other police and mental health clinics from other regions.

Review of Literature

The authors provided an abstract introduction without a proper title abstract section and they also did cite clear review of the literature. The study did contribute to the overall understanding of the topic and reasoning because the authors’ exploration method involved experienced senor police and CATT staff personnel. While the title statement was long it was appropriate for the statement.

Hypothesis

This study explored how crisis mental health clinicians and police officers experience the service interface to identify perceived challenges to collaboration and possible solutions.

Comments: The purpose of exploring how crisis mental health clinicians and police officers experience the service interface to identify perceived challenges to collaboration and possible solutions was straightforward and agreed with the title. The study was based on identifying possible solutions to bypassing the ED for people already registered with mental health services to admit directly to psychiatric units once the police responded to an incident involving a person with mental illness.

Objectives

The study sought to explore a number of approaches to improve the interface between mental health and policing services for persons with mental illnesses. Which included providing training to police officers and embedding mental health clinicians within police unites to offer consultation as required during crisis incidents when police officers respond to crisis involving persons with mental illness.

Comment: It took several times for the average reader to read the statement to locate the authors’ objectives within the statement. The hypotheses were answerable; however, the staff used a questionnaire not validated because the staffs were not validated as qualified experts in the field.

Methodology

The study explores the challenges limiting effective integration of care, but also to identify new methods to enhance services collaboration. This study also used a questionnaire measuring perceptions, knowledge and confidence in handling incidents involving people with mental illness and the interface with staff from other services was developed and circulated to CATT staff from Alfred Hospital and police officers from the four police departments consisting of St Kilda Road PD, Prahran and South Melbourne Victoria PDs. The primary data used for this study was retrieved from the questionnaire measuring perceptions instrument. The study only involved police officers from four police departments. Interviewing police officers from additional police departments and other staff personnel from additional mental health clinics would have provided a greater prospected of other challenges other agencies are faced with when dealing with persons with mental illness problems.

Comments: The methodology implemented for this study was clearly explained. The questioner instrument was also explained, and the coefficients of the data were also provided. The questioner instrument was not qualified because the staff personnel involved in the developing the instrument were not qualified as experts in the field. The four statistical tables provided clear statistical data based on the frequency of contact with persons with mental illness by police officers and mental health staff.

Findings

Questionnaire measuring instrument was used to form the basis of this exploration. The questionnaire was developed by the researchers with the assistance of senior police staff and mental health staff. Forty-four police officers and 13 mental health professionals were chosen for this research. However, there was no evidence provided to report that the staff selected for this exploratory research was qualified in their perspective fields.

Summary

The statement in this exploratory study did not provide a summary.

Conclusions

Discussion and conclusion were based on the exploratory research using a questionnaire instrument. The questionnaire measuring perceptions instrument were developed to determine the knowledge and confidence of police and mental health staff in handling incidents of crises involving persons with mental illnesses. Without involving larger groups of police officers and mental health staff from additional departments in other regions, this exploratory research may be biased.

Comments: The Discussion and conclusion provided in the statement was based on the exploratory findings and logically presented.

 

Recommendations

The research in this exploratory study appears to be comprehensive. However, the data obtained by questionnaire instrument developed by the authors needs to be validated. This exploratory study would greatly benefit from additional research that would include a much larger group of staff members from the police and mental health staff with extensive experience in dealing with persons with mental illness.

Comments: The limitation of this exploratory study calls for a recommendation for additional research.

Implications to criminal justice

When police officers and mental health staff do not effectively integrate their inter-services with each other, persons in mental illness crises’ will not receive the best assistance needed to de-escalate their crisis. No longer is simply training police officers and mental health staff on dealing with persons in a mental illness crisis, but based on the exploratory study we must also provide training to these two entities to better work with each other in an effort to provide better assistance to those in mental illness crisis.

References

Hollander, Y., Lee, S. J., Tahtalian, S., Young, D., & Kulkarni, J. (2012). Challenges relating to the interface between crisis mental health clinicians and police when engaging with people with a mental illness. Psychiatry, Psychology & Law, 19(3), 402-411. doi:10.1080/13218719.2011.585131