Mental illness disorder in many different instances is chosen as a defence in several criminal trails. The accused of the crime is presumed innocent until proven otherwise in the court of law where they defend themselves of the crime and claim they are mentally ill affected. Nevertheless, several people in society could engage in criminal activities with the mind-set of a having a mental illness or substance abuse disorder. Drugs and substance abuse is also common among most criminals. In further analysis of the context in this article describing key components, examining the finding, and evaluate the contribution related to criminal behavior will enlighten us on the effects mental illness and substance abuse in criminal behavior. The article Effects of Serious Mental Illness and Substance Abuse on Criminal Offenses was a very interesting article and it also brought up some interesting facts. It talks about people who have a mental illness are overrepresented in jails and prisons. In the article it says that these people with these mental illnesses need treatment and not punishment and I think that is so true. I feel that if they would have given these guys some treatment when they were out on the streets, they wouldnt be in prison. There was a study done to determine the effects of serious mental illness and substance abuse on the criminal offenses of a group of community residents with serious mental illness and co-occurring substance abuse disorders. The researchers used community residents that had already been part of a research done in the Hawaii Jail Diversion Project. That research compared the functional outcomes of persons diverted out of jail and into mental health and substance abuse services with the outcomes of a control group of persons arrested and jailed. For their research they got their information by asking participants three or four probe questions during the projects intake interview, which occurred within seven days of their arrest: Why did you offense? Is there anything else you can 3 MENTALLYILLNESS tell me about offense? Do I know everything I need to know to understand why you offense? If not, what else do I need to know? The article was laid out by four psychiatrists from the University of Hawaii after they had presided over a research on Hawaii Jail Diversion Project members. The four were Junginger, Claypole, Laygo and Annette. This is shown in the article when the author explains how three of the team members obtained information about the offences of the participants (Junginger, Claypole, Laygo and Annette, 2006).The main task of the psychiatrists was the comprehensive assumption that most people with serious mental disorders were regarded as criminals. This was after the fact of realizing that large scales of people were more likely to be arrested and jailed were those with seriously mental problems or substance abuse. Thus, aimed with this observation they were able to hypothesize that either the serious mental problems trigger criminal activities or the symptoms portrayed. In most instances, people with serious mental disorders tend to perform some activities which are regarded as by offensive normal people. (White, Chant and Whiteford, 2006). The purpose of the research was to determine the effects of serious mental problems and substance abuse on the criminal activities in a society. It was necessary to identify a location and situation which would provide the appropriate data to justify the hypothesis. Data collection was necessary because it was from this that a relationship would be formed or developed. The demographic and clinical history of the inmates was also essential as part of the data collection (Hartwell, 2004).After approval by the University of Hawaii, a group of one hundred and thirteen criminal offenders was identified from the Hawaii Jail Diversion Project to be the respondents. Questionnaires and interviews were used to gather information on the nature of 4 MENTALLYILLNESS crime committed, the frequency of criminal activities and the extent of drug abuse or mental disorder (Junginger, 2006). The research results showed that there was no real linkage between serious mental illness and criminal activities. However, substance abuse was responsible for quite a number of criminal offences as compared to serious mental illness. Thus, according to the study there is no significant essence of criminalizing serious mental illness but rather this should be drug abuse. The research posed a challenging situation to the authorities to create more emphasis on substance abuse as this was a major cause of criminal activities (Pager, 2004). The conclusions from the research didnt show that mental illness was the cause of their criminal acts but substance abuse was responsible for most of their criminal acts or other risk factors such as unemployment, poverty, homelessness, and substance abuse. With further analysis of the context in this article describing key components, examining the finding, and evaluate the contribution related to criminal behavior we are able to clearly understand the seriousness of mental illness and substance abuse in criminal behavior. Knowing and understanding the Effects of Serious Mental Illness and Substance Abuse on Criminal Offenses and how they affect criminal behavior is important because I learned how these disorders affect people in our criminal justice system. From the above study, it would not be just to make serious mental illness a criminal without first looking into other aspects of the individual. Other factors could be contributing to the criminal activities though not necessarily their mental state. This research gives us a glimpse on how people are affected and what we need to do to have better knowledge of how to help those with these disorders. 5 MENTALLYILLNESS References Hartwell, S.W. (2004), Comparison of offenders with mental illness only and offenders with dual diagnosis; American Psychiatric Association Junginger, J., Claypole, K., Laygo, R. and Annette, C. (2006), Effects of serious mental illness and drug abuse on criminal offences; American Psychological Association. Pager, D. (2004), The mark of a criminal record. Focus, vol. 23, No. 2. White, Chant and Whiteford, (2006), A comparison of Australian men with psychotic remanded for criminal offences and a community group of psychotic Psychology Press. Vol.40, Issue 3 pp 260-265. disorder men who have not.