The problems posed by persons with mental illness involved with the criminal justice system are vexing ones that have received attention at the local, state and national levels. The conceptual model currently guiding research and social action around these problems is shaped by the "criminalization" perspective and the associated belief that reconnecting individuals with mental health services will by itself reduce risk for arrest. This paper argues that such efforts are necessary but possibly not sufficient to achieve that reduction. Arguing for the need to develop a services research framework that identifies a broader range of risk factors for arrest, we describe three potentially useful criminological frameworks-the "life course," "local life circumstances" and "routine activities" perspectives. Their utility as platforms for research in a population of persons with mental illness is discussed and suggestions are provided with regard to how services research guided by these perspectives might inform the development of community-based services aimed at reducing risk of arrest.

The original 'plan' for deinstitutionalization of America's population of persons with severe and persistent mental illness saw community mental health services as providing many of the functions of large mental hospitals in community settings. While substantial effort and resources have been committed to this enterprise, many persons with mental illness encounter significant problems in adjusting to life in the community. Prominent among these problems is the disproportionate involvement in the criminal justice system of persons with psychiatric disorders. This problem, popularly described as the 'criminalization' of mental illness, often threatens the clinical stability and safety of persons with mental disorders, and at the same taxes heavily the resources of the criminal justice system. This paper reviews data exploring the relationship between levels and availability of community-based services and the likelihood that persons with mental illness will become involved with the criminal justice system. Finding no relationship, we conjecture that community mental health services are effective with only certain individuals, and move toward a taxonomy of offenders with mental illness. This classification scheme takes into account the relationship between psychiatric disorder, lifestyle and pre-morbid criminal involvement, and is designed to inform system actors with regard to the targeting of these resources.