Mental Health and Criminal Justice – A New Zealand Guide

Canterbury University Press will publish Mental Health and Criminal Justice: A New Zealand Guide, an open-access book edited by Dr Marozane Spamers.

About the project

This book aims to address a perceived gap in the criminal justice literature and support a new course on Mental Health and Criminal Justice in the LLB and Bachelor of Criminal Justice at the University of Canterbury. The book will take a critical, rights-based and evidence-based approach and consider relevant law and policy related to mental health at all stages of the criminal justice process. Readers will gain valuable practical and theoretical information regarding bicultural competence in matters related to mental health and criminal justice. The book will discuss mental health and the explanation of crime, and mental health in criminal courts, as well as the management of mentally ill persons and offenders by police and in custodial and community corrections. Further topics include the role of expert evidence in criminal cases involving the mental health of defendants, the mental health of victims and people working in criminal justice.

Publishing the book open access will make it accessible to all law and criminal justice students, leading to entry into the legal and criminal justice profession of graduates better educated on mental health in the context of criminal justice. The goal is that this will result in positive downstream effects on the shaping of policy, and outcomes for offenders and victims of crime. Increased awareness of the mental health of people working in legal and criminal justice careers and strategies to maintain their wellbeing will also contribute to the mental resilience of such professionals, potentially resulting in higher rates of retention of workers in the field. Publishing open access will also benefit current legal practitioners, criminal justice agencies and anyone navigating the criminal justice system by ensuring important information is readily accessible.

Grant amount

$20,000 for work in 2024 – 2025

About the researchers

The lead researcher/editor for this project is Dr Marozane Spamers of the Faculty of Law, University of Canterbury.

Several collaborators who are experts in their own fields from the University of Canterbury will be co-authors on the project, including:

Professor Debra Wilson (Professor in the Faculty of Law at the University of Canterbury)
Dr Lin Mussel (Lecturer at the Department of Political Science and International Relations at the University of Canterbury)
Dr Jayson Ware (Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Law at the University of Canterbury)
Jessica Niurangi Maclean (Ngāti Kahu, Ngāti Hine, Clan O’Hara and Clan Maclean) (Lecturer at Aotahi, School of Māori and Indigenous Studies at the University of Canterbury)
Dr Bethany Growns (Cognitive Psychologist and Lecturer in the School of Psychology, Speech and Hearing, Faculty of Science at the University of Canterbury)
Dr James Mehigan (Associate Professor in the Faculty of Law at the University of Canterbury)
Professor Robin Palmer (Professor in the Faculty of Law at the University of Canterbury)