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19 J. Contemp. Crim. Just. 6 (2003)

handle is hein.journals/jccj19 and id is 1 raw text is: EDITORIAL COMMENT Although at this time in society there may, in fact, be those individuals who should be confined because of breaking the social contract, the overarching solution of confinement extends far beyond that population. The incarcerated population includes many individuals for whom confinement is the wrong alternative in terms of economic, public safety, and ethical costs. When men- tal illness and substance use is added to this equation, societal and individual costs become exponential if evidence-based assessment, intervention, and treatment are not provided. That individuals with mental illness are over- represented in the criminal justice system compared to the prevalence of mental illness in noninstitutionalized community settings-the community at large-is well established. Rates of recidivism, emergency services use, rending of family structure, death by suicide, violence, and loss of potential community members who could otherwise be productive are some of the documented consequences for nontreatment intervention with this popula- tion. The multifaceted problems of this population, although well described, still require continued research and explication. The purpose of this special issue on mental illness and corrections is to look at criminal justice populations in various settings, as juveniles and adults, men and women, detainees and prisoners, all of whom have psychiat- ric problems, although often undetected. The issue brings together research and conceptual thinking from different disciplines to move forward our knowledge about the needs of these groups and potential solutions. The arti- cles presented here build on many of the authors' own work, which have con- tributed to the established literature on risk assessment, epidemiology, diver- sion, services research, and the costly implications for nontreatment. These articles are descriptive, setting the stage for future analyses of the questions asked by these authors and for outcome studies in each of their respective areas. We begin with an article by Steven Belenko, Michelle A. Lang, and Lisa A. O'Connor on the self-identification of the need for psychiatric treatment as a marker for extensive psychiatric problems within a prison-bound substance- using jail population. If one can find a self-report marker for mental status and for determining the need for intervention, then one has found an invalu- able tool to screen the large number of substance-using and other detainees Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, Vol. 19 No. 1, February 2003 6-8 DOI: 10.1177/1043986202239739 © 2003 Sage Publications 6

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