The impact of ‘new-generation’ anti-psychotic medication on criminal justice outcomes

This chapter reports the results of a study that used anonymous administrative databases and statistical techniques to determine the number of people in two databases. Results indicate that fewer adults with severe and persistent mental illness got into trouble with the law after beginning new-generation anti-psychotic medication than before. This impact was not uniformly felt, however. Men experienced decreased criminal justice involvement, while criminal justice involvement for women increased. Access to new-generation anti-psychotic medication was substantially greater for people who had previously been in trouble with the law and this difference was greater among younger clients.