Browsing by Author "Kondrat, David C."

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    An Analysis of Readmissions to a Mental Health Court
    (Oxford University Press, 2018-09-01) Kondrat, David C.; Linhorst, Donald M.; Dirks-Linhorst, P. Ann; Horning, Emily
    Mental health courts (MHCs) have emerged as one option to address the needs of people with severe mental illness who enter the criminal justice system. Little is known about defendants having multiple referrals to MHCs or the outcomes of subsequent admissions. This study included a sample of 1,084 defendants referred to municipal MHC. During the 13-year study period, 14.3% of defendants had a second admission, with an estimated probability of readmission of 17.4%. Key factors associated with readmission included being eligible to participate in the court but choosing not to do so, being rearrested during court supervision, and having a negative termination from supervision. Defendants who had a second admission during the study period had poorer outcomes than those with one admission. When defendants are referred for readmission to MHCs, careful assessment is required to ensure that these courts are the best alternative for them.
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    The impact of combat deployment experiences on intimate partner violence in the Air Force
    (2017-08-07) Hyer, Steven Matthew; Daley, James G.; Adamek, Margaret E.; Kondrat, David C.; Seybold, Peter
    Intimate partner violence is a problem in the United States (U.S.) military. Previous research has identified factors that increase a couple’s risk for engaging in violence. Most of these factors, such as age, alcohol, and relationship satisfaction are consistent across civilian and military samples. One factor that is unique to military samples is deployment; service members can be exposed to unique traumatic incidents while deployed which are generally unknown to most civilians. Deployments can also increase a service member’s risk for developing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), which can increase their risk for intimate partner violence. Previous research on the effect of deployments on intimate partner violence has produced mixed results. The purpose of this study was to analyze if deployment, total length of deployment, combat experiences from deployment, and PTSD symptoms increased risk for Air Force airmen to perpetrate intimate partner violence at a moderate or severe level of violence. Survey data from a representative sample of active duty Air Force airmen (N = 1,501) was used to conduct Chi-Square analyses and multinomial logistic regression models for perpetrated violence. Results of the study showed that deployment and combat experiences were not significant predictors of perpetrated violence. PTSD symptoms, in addition to alcohol misuse and relationship satisfaction, were significant predictors of moderate and severe perpetrated violence. In terms of practice and policy implications, the study results underscore the importance of widespread screening for these risk factors as well as the availability of interventions focused on alcohol use and relationship issues among service members. Future research could determine if PTSD symptoms moderate the relationship between combat experiences and intimate partner violence.
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    Role of Social Support and Ego Network Characteristics on Quality of Life: Implications for Persons Involved with Mental Health Courts
    (2021) Kondrat, David C.; Sullivan, W. Patrick; Canada, Kelli E.; Jaggers, Jeremiah W.; School of Social Work
    Mental health courts offer alternatives to incarceration for persons with severe mental illness who are involved in the criminal justice system. These courts have the dual function of ensuring treatment for persons involved in the court as well as ensuring the safety of the public. Persons with severe mental illness who are involved in mental health courts rely on others for support, such as family members. Others may buttress the participant from engaging in criminal activities and provide for needs of the participant. The supportiveness as well as the composition of one’s network members may play a role in the success of mental health court participants, such as successfully completing the mental health court program and avoiding incarceration. Little research has explored how social support impacts mental health court participants. We explored how the composition and sense of support of network members were associated with mental health court participants’ quality of life. We regressed quality of life on social support and network characteristics of 80 participants in two mental health courts. Findings suggest that perceived support is positively associated with quality of life, and the proportion of family in one’s network was negatively related to quality of life. Findings suggest that persons involved in mental health courts need supportive others in their social networks in addition to family. More research is needed to explore the reasons having a higher proportion of family members in one’s network is associated with lower quality of life. Practitioners need to pay attention to and leverage mental health court participants’ social networks to help improve their quality of life.