A review of the validity of self-reported arrests among persons with mental illness

Purpose of review The use of self-report as a measure of involvement with the criminal justice system is widespread in mental health services research. However, the accuracy of the self-reporting of sensitive information is questionable. Complicating the issue further is that self-reports from persons with serious mental illness may be influenced by cognitive distortions. Consequently, questions about the accuracy of these types of reports among a population with serious mental illness continue to be raised. The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of the research and the issues relating to the validity of self-reported arrests among persons with serious mental illness. This review is timely and warranted because of national and local reliance on criminal behavior as an indicator of the efficacy of treatment programs, such as assertive community treatment and jail diversion. Recent findings Our literature review found no apparent reason to discourage the use of self-reports to collect information on involvement with the criminal justice system among persons with serious mental illness. However, the research on which we base this conclusion is thin. Further research needs to determine the degree of validity of self-reported arrest history, and the extent to which accuracy varies among various clinical and social populations. Summary Our review of the factors that undermine validity and our suggestions for minimizing bias should aid in the critical appraisal of research that has relied on self-reported criminal behavior, and also the design of future studies.