International Journal of Forensic Mental Health

Stigma is an important phenomenon that is receiving increasing attention across the social sciences, especially in the fields of criminal justice and health research. This is in part due to a recognition that individual experiences of stigma are associated with a range of poorer outcomes. There are different ways of thinking about and operationalising stigma. Three domains of stigma have been identified: self, public and structural. These describe the ways in which labelling, prejudice and discrimination can play out across intrapersonal, interpersonal, and system levels.

People with mental health needs (including substance use disorders) in the criminal justice system live with multiple intersecting stigmatised identities: offender, mentally ill, and substance user. Stigmatising attitudes towards this group have detrimental effects on mental wellbeing, sense of self, and access to education, housing, and employment opportunities. It follows that efforts are taken to reduce the level of stigma directed towards people with these needs.

Previous research has investigated the dual stigmas of the ‘forensic mental health’ label (i.e., having both a mental health condition and being involved in the criminal justice system), compared stigma experiences to those with mental health issues but no forensic history, developed measures of stigma towards this population, and explored changes in stigmatic attitudes before and after educational interventions. More research is needed, however.
In the Special Issue, we are seeking empirical (qualitative and quantitative) and conceptual contributions to further our understanding of the causes, intersectionality, and consequences of self, public and structural stigma towards and helped by people in the criminal justice system who have mental health needs. This may include individuals in liaison and diversion schemes, correctional settings, secure psychiatric settings, or probation or forensic outpatient settings.

In keeping with the journal’s general instructions for authors, potential contributors are asked to keep their submissions to a maximum of 8,000 words. Suggested topics for manuscripts include, but are not limited to:

• Intersectional experiences of stigma for people with mental health needs in the criminal justice system, including for example: poverty, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation
• Educational interventions to reduce stigmatic attitudes towards people with mental health needs in the criminal justice system
• Instruments to measure domains of stigma in relation to people with mental health needs in the criminal justice system
• Longitudinal studies of the consequences of stigma in relation to people with mental health needs in the criminal justice system
• Stigma experienced or directed towards carers and family members of people with mental health needs in the criminal justice system
• Cross-sectional studies of factors associated with stigma experiences in relation to people with mental health needs in the criminal justice system
• Qualitative investigations of stigma on the self-concept of people with mental health needs in the criminal justice system
• Associations between staff stigmatic attitudes towards their work and people with mental health needs in the criminal justice system
• Changes in personal experiences of stigma across the criminal justice/mental health pathway
• Changes in personal experiences of stigma before and after clinical and social interventions that seek to promote autonomy for those with mental health issues and engagement in care

Manuscripts written with regards to best practices in reporting standards are especially welcome (e.g., COREQ for qualitative studies or CONSORT for trials). We would also welcome community-based participatory research on this topic.

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