Mental Health Training for UK Crown Prosecution Lawyers - Article Example

Mental Health Training is essential for UK Crown Prosecution Lawyers. Why do Crown Prosecution Lawyers need mental health training? - People suffering from mental health illness must be treated positively, fairly and with respect, within every area of our social environment, including in the criminal justice system, whether this be in the form of a victim, offender or witness. The charity MIND has been particularly vocal on how the sharing of information and training between Mental Health organisations and the Criminal Justice system will help legal professionals further understand their clients who are suffering from mental illness. In addition, the extra understanding will provide a fairer context in which the person is treated within the criminal justice system, which is after all what every lawyer wants for his client, a fair equal and unprejudiced trail and treatment in whatever role their client plays in the case. In order for the Crown Prosecution lawyer to achieve this objective, first they need to be able to understand and emphasise with their client themselves. - Anna Bird, states that “MIND believes that CPS does not provide sufficient training about mental health for prosecutors to make consistently good decisions concerning mental health and credibility. We understand that prosecutors-indeed all lawyers- receive no mental health awareness training at all. Given the strength of the association between distress and not being believed, it is cited that all justice professionals understand the relationship between credibility and mental health in order to ensure equal access to justice” (Bird, 2008). In addition: To better understand and reduce the high rate of persistent offending from people with mental health problems - Countless offenders, chiefly those with a record of persistent offending, have mental health problems that may be correlated to their offending behavior pattern. Additionally, this population of persistent offenders with mental health problems are disproportionally higher than those reported in the general offender population. Often they are also associated with ‘issues of drug and/or alcohol misuse and social exclusion’ (Lewis, 2007, p.1). -Help to identify links between mental health problems and persistent offending, this will lead to a reduction in persistent offending, and in addition help to develop prevention programmes aimed at persistent offenders who have received a diagnosis of a psychiatric or psychological problem. And: To help end the discrediting of witnesses and victims in court - A report provided by MIND (Another Assault, 2007) has shown a lack of awareness from the criminal justice system about mental health issues, much of which is because they have received no training at all in the area of mental health, its varying symptoms and effects on the individual, has led to failure within the system to properly address the individual needs’ of the individuals within the system who suffer from mental health issues, leading to ‘inappropriate decision-making’ and ‘inappropriate use of psychiatric evidence, which is used to discredit witnesses with a mental health problem in court’ (Bird, 2008). - Their research further shows that individuals with mental health problems ‘were systemically discredited not believed or not taken seriously’. This has therefore further deterred a certain section of society from respecting crimes, discouraged thorough and comprehensive investigation, and has led to cases being dropped before they have reached court and ‘reduced prosecution rates when cases do not go to court’ (Bird, 2008). - A lack of formal training in psychiatric, psychological and forensic assessments and diagnoses places the Crown Prosecution Lawyer and other criminal justice professionals in danger of both under utilisation of important witnesses, which may place a dangerous and violent criminal back into society where they can cause more harm, and in addition will end their reliance on having to have mental health professionals who do not understand the criminal justice system interpret these assessments and evaluations in order to make legal decision making. - This training and subsequent implementation into working practice will help to increase the autonomy for your client, and increase their creditability as a victim or witness in court, or when the decisions are being made as to whether to prosecute or not, as the stigma which is often attached to individuals with mental health problems will have been removed due to enhanced understanding of their conditions. This means that justice will be more fairly achieved. Lastly, but most importantly for you: Benefits of this training for Crown Prosecution Lawyers!   - Firstly, it will make your job easier and give you greater job satisfaction! - Through a shared collaboration of knowledge between mental health professionals and Crown Prosecution Lawyers a substantial knowledge basis can be formed which will further educate and therefore enable both sets of professionals to improve their work practices, and subsequently treatment and rehabilitation where needed for individuals’ with mental health problems who are involved in the criminal justice system, improving their health and their lives, in addition to the lives of their families. - This in turn will produce better outcomes in court, help to promote public safety, and as mentioned before to create greater confidence and trust in the criminal justice system for the public. - It is felt that once criminal justice professionals receive mental health training it will provide the understanding necessary to help make your job easier when involved with individuals with mental health problems, whether they are the offender, the victim or the witness. - This will obviously enhance your working relationship with these individuals easier, more satisfying, and less fraught, and probably less aggressive as if the person’s like they are understood and not judged it will enable them to trust you more, and therefore show less defensive or aggressive behavior. - This in turn will lead to more satisfactory outcomes, and enhance your working practice. - To look at the bigger picture, all of the above may lead to positive policy changes, reducing discrimination against individuals with mental health problems, helping them to have better access to treatment, and thereby improving their self-confidence, which will improve their lives and their mental health, leading ultimately to reducing their offending behavior (Rosado, 2005). - This is therefore good for you as you will have less work for you to do! - So a win-win situation for all!   REFERENCES Bird, A. (2008). Justice Committee inquiry into the work of the Crown Prosecution Service. [Online] Available at: www.mind.org.uk/NR/rdonlyres/20E3E70B-B597-4C3E-AC10-2E777795E5F9/6530/JusticeCommitteeInquiryCPS.doc [Accessed on 19 March 2009]. Lewis, I. (2007). Improving Health, Supporting Justice: A Consultation Document. Departments of Health, Children Schools and Families, Ministry of Justice, Youth Justice Board, Home Office. [Online] Available at: http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Consultations/Liveconsultations/DH_080816 [Accessed on 19 March 2009]. Rosado, L. M. (2005). Training mental health and juvenile justice professionals in forensic assessment. In Heilbrun, K., Sevin-Goldstein, N. E. & Redding, R. E. (Eds.). Juvenile delinquency: prevention, assessment, and intervention. Oxford University Press US. Read More