Will You Be Arrested This Year? Mental Illness-Drugs Predict It

Arrests Higher For White Male Substance Abusers Under 35

New research indicates mental illness and substance abuse are the best predictors of who will be arrested say the authors of a study published by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the Center for Behavioral Health Statistics And Quality.

Authors Cristie Glasheen, Sarra L. Hedden, Larry A. Kroutil, Michael R. Pemberton, Ingrid Goldstrom say the presence of mental illness was a significant predictor of past year arrests in the U.S. general population, even in models that controlled for substance use and other correlates. 

However, the presence of a substance use disorder was the strongest correlate of past year arrest among all adults and among adults with any mental illness or serious mental illness. 

The demographic characteristics of arrestees were similar between those with and without any mental illness; the majority of adults who had been arrested in the past year were younger than the age of 35, male, non-Hispanic white, never married, living at or above the federal poverty level, and had no further education beyond high school. 

Adult arrestees with any mental illness, compared with adult arrestees without, were less likely to be female or non-Hispanic black and more likely to be out of the labor force.

Full Report On Arrestees With Sustance Abuse and Mental Illness