Geographies of Behavioural Health, Crime, and Disorder : The Intersection of Social Problems and Place

This book focuses on the intersection of place and overall community health thereby focusing on some of the most critical contemporary social problems, including the opioid crisis, suicide, socioeconomic status and ethnicity, mental illness, crime, homelessness, green criminology, and social and environmental justice. Scholars from a variety of disciplines, including geography, sociology, criminology, mental health, social work, and behavioural sciences discuss the importance of geography in our quality of life. Each chapter introduces the reader to an overview of the topic, presents theoretical frameworks and the most recent empirical evidence, and discusses real world policy implications. As such this book is a key resource for researchers, policy makers, and practitioners working in the field. Perhaps never before has an objective, evidence-based review of the intersection between gun violence and mental illness been more sorely needed or more timely. Gun Violence and Mental Illness, written by a multidisciplinary roster of authors who are leaders in the fields of mental health, public health, and public policy, is a practical guide to the issues surrounding the relation between firearms deaths and mental illness. Tragic mass shootings that capture headlines reinforce the mistaken beliefs that people with mental illness are violent and responsible for much of the gun violence in the United States. This misconception stigmatizes individuals with mental illness and distracts us from the awareness that approximately 65% of all firearm deaths each year are suicides. This book is an apolitical exploration of the misperceptions and realities that attend gun violence and mental illness. The authors frame both pressing social issues as public health problems subject to a variety of interventions on individual and collective levels, including utilization of a novel perspective: evidence-based interventions focusing on assessments and indicators of dangerousness, with or without indications of mental illness This important, multidisciplinary volume presents evidence-based analyses and risk assessment strategies for mental health clinicians, trainees, and those interested in finding more effective interventions to decrease the costs of the serious public health problems of gun violence and mental illness.