The Role of Indigent Defense for Defendants with Mental Health Disorders, New York, 2013-2015 (ICPSR 36736)
Version Date: May 29, 2024 View help for published
Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s)
Jim Parsons, Vera Institute of Justice
https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR36736.v1
Version V1
Summary View help for Summary
The incarceration of people with mental health disorders represents a significant public health crisis. People with mental health needs are over-represented in the justice system and in 2009 alone there were an estimated 2 million bookings of individuals with mental health disorders into United States jails, equivalent to approximately 18 percent of all admissions (Steadman et al., 2009).
While some indigent defense offices employ social workers or staff with clinical training to assess client needs and advise attorneys on defense strategies, there are far more public defenders that do not have access to these resources. While millions of people with mental illness are arrested every year, there continues to be challenges inherent in representing this population or the training and support needs of public defenders.
This project addresses examines the needs of defendants with mental health disorders and the specific challenges that attorneys face when representing these individuals. Specifically, the Vera Institute of Justice (Vera) and Policy Research Associates Inc. (PRA) used multiple methods to assess the dual perspective of defendants and defenders concerning:
- The link between mental health and justice involvement
- Perceptions of the attorney-client relationship and satisfaction with case outcomes
- The needs of defendants with mental health disorders
- How a client's mental health impacts defenders' strategy
Citation View help for Citation
Export Citation:
Funding View help for Funding
Subject Terms View help for Subject Terms
Geographic Coverage View help for Geographic Coverage
Smallest Geographic Unit View help for Smallest Geographic Unit
County
Restrictions View help for Restrictions
Access to these data is restricted. Users interested in obtaining these data must complete a Restricted Data Use Agreement, specify the reasons for the request, and obtain IRB approval or notice of exemption for their research.
Distributor(s) View help for Distributor(s)
Time Period(s) View help for Time Period(s)
Date of Collection View help for Date of Collection
Study Purpose View help for Study Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine the needs of defendants with mental health disorders and the specific challenges that attorneys face when representing these individuals.
Study Design View help for Study Design
To understand the policies and practices related to clients with mental health disorders in both sites, the research team conducted interviews with managers and senior staff and a document review of materials such as intake/referral forms or job descriptions. To document the experience of defendants and their attorneys, Vera and PRA conducted semi-structured "parallel interviews;" researchers interviewed a sample of defendants with mental health needs and their attorneys at the beginning and end of their case.
The research team interviewed a total of eight informants as part of the policy review, including two senior lawyers and one social worker at New York City Legal Aid; one managing attorney, one senior attorney, and one senior social worker at Bronx Defenders; and two managing attorneys at the Monroe County Public Defender.
The research team conducted 639 interviews, including 200 baseline and 133 follow-ups with defendants, as well as 156 baseline and 150 follow-ups with lawyers. The research team interviewed 200 discrete defendants and 104 attorneys, as a number of public defenders had multiple clients participating in the study.
Sample View help for Sample
To recruit pairs of defendants and defenders, the research team first approached defendants with criminal cases in the Bronx or Monroe County, who were identified by staff working in the jail as having a mental health need and who were represented by a public defender. Researchers conducted initial interviews in the jail and, therefore, only defendants who were detained after arraignment were included. Once a defendant agreed to participate and completed the baseline interview, researchers then approached his or her lawyer to participate.
Time Method View help for Time Method
Universe View help for Universe
Public defense clients with mental health conditions in New York.
Unit(s) of Observation View help for Unit(s) of Observation
Data Type(s) View help for Data Type(s)
Mode of Data Collection View help for Mode of Data Collection
Description of Variables View help for Description of Variables
The variables include information on a range of topics including the specific challenges that defenders face when representing clients with mental health conditions, the resources necessary for working with this population, and the ways in which the client's health needs shape their defense strategy. The variables also include client history of criminal justice involvement, the relationship between their criminal justice involvement and their mental health and substance use, and whether and how they want their mental health to play a role in their defense.
Please note that the variables DEFENDANTID and LAWYERID are linking variables across the datasets.
Response Rates View help for Response Rates
Not applicable
Presence of Common Scales View help for Presence of Common Scales
Original Release Date View help for Original Release Date
2024-05-29
Version History View help for Version History
2024-05-29 ICPSR data undergo a confidentiality review and are altered when necessary to limit the risk of disclosure. ICPSR also routinely creates ready-to-go data files along with setups in the major statistical software formats as well as standard codebooks to accompany the data. In addition to these procedures, ICPSR performed the following processing steps for this data collection:
- Checked for undocumented or out-of-range codes.
Notes
The public-use data files in this collection are available for access by the general public. Access does not require affiliation with an ICPSR member institution.
One or more files in this data collection have special restrictions. Restricted data files are not available for direct download from the website; click on the Restricted Data button to learn more.