New Book Examines How Individuals with Serious Mental Illness Become Entangled in Misdemeanor Systems

Dr. Leah Pope, Associate Professor of Clinical Behavioral Medicine, and Dr. Michael Compton, Professor of Psychiatry (Division of Behavioral Health Services and Policy Research) are releasing a new book this month entitled, Entangled: How People with Serious Mental Illness Get Caught in Misdemeanor Systems. Entangled draws on data from a mixed-method, multisite study (Atlanta, Chicago, New York, and Philadelphia) to examine how people with serious mental illnesses become entangled in the criminal legal system and how failure to resolve underlying issues—such as underfunded social and mental health service systems and the shortage of affordable housing—plays a role. In each chapter, data-based clinical vignettes illustrate scenarios in which people with serious mental illness have been arrested on misdemeanor charges, heightening the clinical relevance of the information. Solution- oriented at its core, this book reviews necessary reforms and policy advances in the criminal legal and mental health systems, advocating for a multisystem approach that will help individuals with mental illness embrace a life of recovery, hope, empowerment, and integration.