Dartmouth Health has published the latest webinar in its series, Heads Up: A Year-Long Mental Health Awareness Journey. This month, expert panelists discuss the topic “Mental health and the criminal justice system.” The video can be viewed on the Dartmouth Health YouTube page.
This segment features Samantha Morin, PhD, Dartmouth Health Lead Child Forensic Psychologist, Director of Clinical Services at Sununu Youth Services Center in Manchester, New Hampshire; David Goldstein, PhD, behavioral scientist and Chief of Police for the City of Franklin; and Joseph Lascaze, criminal justice reform advocate and Smart Justice Campaign Manager for the American Civil Liberties Union of New Hampshire. Together, they discuss the myriad ways trauma and mental health issues contribute to criminal behavior, the mental toll police work takes on a person and a growing awareness in law enforcement circles on mental health and resources to seek help.
Morin says a lot of criminal behavior stems from trauma from childhood abuse and neglect, which is a major contributor to the juveniles incarcerated at the Sununu Youth Services Center.
“I think one thing that’s important to point out is that many of the youth coming to us having already been involved in Child Protection or a Child in Need of Service petition or have gone through multiple placements before having come to us, on average about five or six, and have a lot of trauma in their history,” said Morin. “So, we have a lot of abuse, a lot of neglect, a lot of trauma reactivity that contributes to maybe some of the behaviors that led them to be placed with us.”
The panel also explores how the traditional criminal justice system has resulted in the warehousing of the mentally ill and the use of prisons and jails as de facto treatment centers, recent reforms in juvenile justice and other ways to prioritize treatment over incarceration.
In partnership with the New Hampshire Union Leader and the Seacoast Media Group, the Heads Up series is a mental health awareness campaign that provides online resources, offers fresh perspectives and highlights community events on mental health-related topics.
To learn more about the Heads Up Series, resources on mental health, or to view past newspaper feature articles and webinars, visit our Mental Health web page.
About Dartmouth Health
Dartmouth Health, New Hampshire’s only academic health system and largest private employer, serves patients across New England. Dartmouth Health provides access to more than 2,300 providers in nearly every area of medicine, delivering care at its flagship hospital, Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) in Lebanon, NH. Its network of hospitals, outpatient centers, clinics and home care facilities, spans a broad geographical area. Year after year, DHMC is named the #1 hospital in New Hampshire by U.S. News & World Report, and is consistently recognized for high performance in numerous clinical specialties and procedures. Dartmouth Health includes Dartmouth Cancer Center, northern New England’s only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers and one of less than than 60 total nationally; Dartmouth Health Children’s, which includes the state’s only children’s hospital (Children’s Hospital at DHMC/CHaD) and more than 20 locations around the region; eight member hospitals in Lebanon, Keene, Claremont, Hampstead, and New London, NH, and Windsor and Bennington, VT; Dartmouth Health Home Care; Dartmouth Health Connected Care Center for Telehealth, serving patients as far away as Texas; and more than 30 primary and multi-specialty clinics across New Hampshire and Vermont. Through its partnership with Dartmouth College, Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine and the White River Junction VA Medical Center, Dartmouth Health trains nearly 400 medical residents and fellows annually and performs cutting-edge research and clinical trials with international impact. Dartmouth Health and its more than 16,000 employees are committed to serving the healthcare needs of everyone in the communities it serves and to providing every patient with exceptional, state-of-the-art, personalized care. Learn more at dartmouth-health.org.