Peer support on the “inside and outside”: building lives and reducing recidivism for people with mental illness returning from jail
| Published date | 05 September 2019 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JPMH-02-2019-0028 |
| Date | 05 September 2019 |
| Pages | 188-198 |
| Author | Chyrell Bellamy,James Kimmel,Mark N. Costa,Jack Tsai,Larry Nulton,Elissa Nulton,Alexandra Kimmel,Nathan J. Aguilar,Ashley Clayton,Maria O’Connell |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Mental health,Public mental health |
Peer support on the “inside and outside”:
building lives and reducing recidivism for
people with mental illness returning from jail
Chyrell Bellamy, James Kimmel, Mark N. Costa, Jack Tsai, Larry Nulton, Elissa Nulton,
Alexandra Kimmel, Nathan J. Aguilar, Ashley Clayton and Maria O’Connell
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to gain understanding about the effectiveness of a forensic peer
support program’s impact on reducing criminal recidivism. People with histories of mental illness returning to
the community following incarceration face tremendous challenges in jails and prisons and in successful
reentry to community. Transitioning from jails and prisons is fraught with additional challenges such as
reconnecting or connecting with mental health and substance abuse treatment, finding adequate housing,
finding employment, reuniting with family and friends, etc. Unfortunately, recidivism remains high, principally
because of these challenges. Many state and local authorities have supported the development of the
forensic peer specialist.
Design/methodology/approach –Kaplan–Meier survival analyses were conducted to examine time to
re-incarceration.
Findings –The population served was determined to be a particularly high risk of re-incarceration
population, when released from prison. All had a mental illness diagnosis, with 80 percent diagnosed with at
least one serious mental illness, and more than 50 percent had three or more anterior incarcerations. Utilizing
Kaplan–Meyer survival analysis, the chance of re-incarceration for participants after one year was of
21.7 percent. Surprisingly, in the first year after release from prison, participants did much betterthan those in
the general US prison population when in terms of re-incarceration rates (21.7 percent vs 43.4 percent).
Originality/value –While preliminary findings of this approach, this study reaffirms the idea that forensic
peer support programs are beneficial in reducing recidivism rates for people diagnosed with a mental illness
coming out of prison, offering individuals supports to maintain their lives in the community.
Keywords Incarceration, Forensic, Recidivism, Mental illness, Peer support, Community reentry
Paper type Research paper
The imprisonment of people with mental illness in the USA is a direct result of mass incarceration and
unfair sentencing laws that primarily targeted African Americans and people from lower
socioeconomic backgrounds and communities. According to scholars, “mass incarceration has
become the perceived default option for long-term care of serious mental illnesses (SMI) in the USA,
partlybecauseitislessexpensiveforUSstatesthan providing a full range of community programs,
supported accommodation, and rehabilitation beds”(Allison et al., 2017, p. 25). Each year it is
estimated that a large portion of those returning home from jails and prisons have mental illness and
co-occurring addictions. For people with mental illness, transitioning from jails and prisons is fraught
with challenges such as reconnecting or connecting with mental health and substance abuse
treatment, finding adequate housing, finding employment, reuniting with family and friends, etc.
(Portillo et al., 2017; Draine et al., 2005; Davidson and Rowe, 2008; Rowe et al., 2007).
Unfortunately, recidivism remains high for many people with mental illness because of these
challenges. In research by Cloyes et al. (2010), people with mental illness returned to prison 358 days
sooner than those without a mental illness (385 days vs 743 days). The use of peer supporters
(those that have lived experience of incarceration) in community settings has demonstrated
some effectiveness in reducing recidivism and other health factors (Rowe et al., 2007).
Received 22 February 2019
Revised 1 May 2019
Accepted 1 June 2019
The authors thank Lori W. Schiltz
and the peer support specialists
for making the connections.
Chyrell Bellamy, James Kimmel
and Mark N. Costa are all
based at Department of
Psychiatry, Yale School of
Medicine, Yale University, New
Haven, Connecticut, USA.
Jack Tsai is based at
Department of Psychiatry, Yale
School of Medicine, New
Haven, Connecticut, USA and
New England Mental Illness
Research, Education, and
Clinical Center, US Department
of Veterans Affairs, Darien,
Georgia, USA.
Larry Nulton and ElissaNulton
are both basedat Peerstar LLC,
Altoona, Pennsylvania, USA.
Alexandra Kimmel and
Nathan J. Aguilar are both
based at Yale School of
Medicine, New Haven,
Connecticut, USA.
Ashley Clayton and
Maria O’Connell are both
based at Department of
Psychiatry, Yale School of
Medicine, New Haven,
Connecticut, USA.
PAGE188
j
JOURNAL OF PUBLIC MENTAL HEALTH
j
VOL. 18 NO. 3 2019, pp. 188-198, © Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 1746-5729 DOI 10.1108/JPMH-02-2019-0028
To continue reading
Request your trial