PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Redlich, Allison D. AU - Steadman, Henry J. AU - Robbins, Pamela Clark AU - Swanson, Jeffrey W. TI - Use of the Criminal Justice System to Leverage Mental Health Treatment: Effects on Treatment Adherence and Satisfaction DP - 2006 Sep 01 TA - Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Online PG - 292--299 VI - 34 IP - 3 4099 - http://jaapl.org/content/34/3/292.short 4100 - http://jaapl.org/content/34/3/292.full SO - J Am Acad Psychiatry Law2006 Sep 01; 34 AB - In efforts to divert persons with mental illness from jails and prisons, the option of community mental health treatment in lieu of incarceration is sometimes offered. In addition, community treatment can be mandated, or “leveraged,” as a condition of probation or parole. However, little is known about the characteristics and attitudes of persons who are and who are not leveraged into community mental health treatment via the criminal justice (CJ) system. In the present study, over 1,000 outpatients with mental disorders were queried about their experiences with CJ leverages, as well as their clinical and treatment histories. Persons who had experienced at least one form of CJ leverage were more likely to be younger and male and to have more hospitalizations than persons who had never experienced a CJ leverage. However, leverage experience was not associated with treatment compliance and satisfaction, or perceptions of coercion and mandate efficacy, particularly when demographic characteristics were considered.