July 2025
Open Access, PDF
270pp
A4
滨厂叠狈听978-1-98-850348-6
Mental health is an urgent and growing concern within the criminal justice system. The high prevalence of mental health concerns among those interacting with the criminal justice system highlights the importance of developing and implementing evidence-based, informed and culturally competent mental health-related policy.
This is the first book in Aotearoa New 成人大片that focuses on mental health policy and legislation at different stages of the criminal justice process. Bridging academic insight and practical application, the book takes a critical, rights-based and multidisciplinary approach, engaging with law, criminology, psychology and psychiatry, and public health to explore the realities of how mental health intersects with justice in policy, practice and lived experience.
Chapters 1 to 5 frame the topic of mental health in criminal justice by contextualising mental health and criminal justice in New 成人大片in light of its history of mental health care, and discussing M膩ori understandings of mental health and criminal justice, the role of criminological theories of crime, the philosophy of punishment and human rights considerations. Chapters 6 to 10 discuss mental health as it relates to discrete aspects of the criminal justice system 鈥 namely police, the criminal trial process, criminal law, expert evidence and prisons. Chapter 11 covers the mental health of victims, while Chapter 12 focuses on the mental health of criminal justice professionals. Lastly, Chapter 13 discusses current developments and future directions in mental health and criminal justice in New Zealand.
The book is aimed at third year and postgraduate students and will appeal to students of criminal justice, law, sociology, criminology, psychology and psychiatry. It will also be a valuable resource for people working in the mental health and criminal justice space, including lawyers, policy makers, forensic experts, corrections, police, victim advocacy services, citizens advice, mental health services and other related parties or organisations 鈥 as well as anyone navigating the criminal justice system.
鈥淢ental health in Aotearoa New Zealand鈥檚 criminal justice system is a crisis hiding in plain sight 鈥 and this book lays it bare. With nearly every incarcerated person having experienced a mental health or substance use disorder, the system groans under the weight of trauma, addiction and neglect. Yet amid the bleak statistics 鈥 rampant self-harm, overuse of solitary confinement and glaring inequities for M膩ori and Pacific peoples 鈥 there are glimmers of hope: therapeutic courts, purpose-built treatment units like Hikitia at Waikeria Prison, and a growing commitment to doing things differently. This book is essential reading for anyone who believes that justice must also mean care, and that dignity should not end at the prison gate.
Drawing on rights-based, evidence-informed and culturally grounded perspectives, the book equips readers with the tools to understand mental health not as a peripheral issue, but as central to justice itself. From the historical foundations of mental health care to detailed discussions on policing, trial processes, prisons, expert evidence and the mental wellbeing of both victims and professionals, this volume offers comprehensive coverage of a complex field. While acknowledging the vastness of the topic, the book succeeds in offering a holistic impression of the key issues, practical realities and future directions of mental health in criminal justice. Mental health touches every corner of New Zealand鈥檚 criminal justice system 鈥 from those accused or convicted of crime, to the victims and families affected, to the professionals working within it. This book constitutes a timely and essential resource for understanding these complex intersections.鈥
鈥擧elen Farley, Director of Criminal Justice, 成人大片 | Te Whare W膩nanga o Waitaha
Marozane Spamers is a lecturer in law and criminal justice in the Faculty of Law 鈥 Te Kaupeka Ture at the 成人大片 鈥 Te Whare W膩nanga o Waitaha, Aotearoa New Zealand. Marozane鈥檚 research interests are in mental health and criminal justice, drawing on criminal law, criminology and human rights law. She takes a multidisciplinary approach to research, based on the view that law does not operate in a vacuum and that the legitimacy of the criminal justice system can only be ensured if legislation and policy are evidence based. She is particularly invested in determining how criminal law and criminal justice policy can be used to protect the human rights of people with mental health concerns while achieving the goals of the criminal justice system. Marozane holds an LLB, an LLM in criminal law and an LLD in mental health law from the University of Pretoria, South Africa, as well as an MPhil in criminological research from the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom.
Contributors:聽Bethany Growns,聽Jessica Niurangi Maclean,聽James Mehigan,聽Linda Mussell,聽Robin Palmer,聽Jayson Ware and聽Debra Wilson.
Published with assistance from the Michael and Suzanne Borrin Foundation.
