Mental Health Issues in Society

Catalog description

This course presents a comprehensive review of the origins of mental health/illness issues as they relate to the criminal justice system. Key concepts, such as criminalization, deinstitutionalization and crisis response, will be addressed within the context of mental illness. Students will focus on mental health issues from a cultural, social, historical, legal and institutional framework. They will investigate the roles that social class, gender, family, race, culture, and ethnicity play in the development of maladjustment. Access to resources such as mental health services and continuity of care will also be addressed.