“We need to understand their background, their circumstances and their plights and try to assist them” : a critical examination of the influence of race and gender on diversion to mental health court

Abstract

Both people of colour and offenders with mental illness are overrepresented within the criminal justice system. With all these overrepresentations, its imaginable that there is an overlap of racialized offenders with mental illnesses. Diversion strategies are used as alternatives that divert accused persons away from incarceration and towards treatment and support services. One such alternative is problem-solving courts, which were developed to treat offenders with special needs, as opposed to traditional prosecution. The literature that discusses how diversionary alternatives, such as mental health courts, is silent when discussing how race may influence access to diversion for people of colour. Additionally, intersectionality has shown how social constructs work together to define experiences for each individual, yet diversion also fails to take this into consideration. Using the theoretical frameworks of critical race theory and intersectionality, I explore the influence that race and gender have on diversion to mental health court. My study is conducted through semi-structured interviews with the Nova Scotia Mental Health Court team members. Additionally, I carried out an observation of both the pre-court team meetings and the court proceedings to contextualize the responses of participants. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis which produced three overarching themes: Diversity and Visibility, Accessibility, and Power. The findings implicated that race was influential in diversion; however, it appears to stem from referrals, rather than screenings for eligibility within the court. Additionally, gender was perceived as having less influence on diversion to the court.