| Using a pre post quantitative analysis of archival data, this study examined whether the Sacramento Mental Health Court (MHC) was associated with a reduction in participant recidivism or offense severity within and between two groups of mentally ill offenders (N = 89). Analyses of defendants' criminal histories were used to examine recidivism and severity. The dependent sample t-test was statistically significant, t (88) = 4.442, p = .001, d = .25, 95% CI [0.68, 1.77] with the mean number of convictions before MHC (M = 2.64, SD = 2.20) significantly greater than the mean number of convictions after MHC (M = 1.42, SD = 2.54). The Wilcoxon signed-ranks test results were statistically significant, showing the mean score for severity of offenses larger prior to MHC intervention ( M = 3.54, SD = 2.56) than after MHC intervention (M = 0.88, SD = 1.98), suggesting the offenses were of less severity after the intervention. When comparing the two groups, ANCOVA results were statistically significant, F (1, 83) = 4.32, p = .041, eta 2 = .05, after controlling for the number of convictions prior to MHC (pretest), to the number of convictions after MHC (posttest). A Mann-Whitney U test showed statistically significant differences for the between groups comparison of offense severity after completion of the MHC program. The comparison group had a larger mean rank (M = 49.33) than the MHC group (M = 40.37) suggesting the offenses were ranked higher in severity level among the comparison group. These results suggest the Sacramento Mental Health Court significantly reduced recidivism and offense severity among its defendants and in comparison to a traditional court group of mentally ill offenders. Future research is needed to determine whether such findings are similarly sustained across other courts and in the development of a uniform criminal severity scale. |
