The National Trajectory Project of Individuals Found Not Criminally Responsible on Account of Mental Disorder in Canada. Part 1: Context and Methods

• Published in: Canadian journal of psychiatry Vol. 60; no. 3; pp. 98 - 105
• Main Authors: Crocker, Anne G, Nicholls, Tonia L, Seto, Michael C, Côté, Gilles, Charette, Yanick, Caulet, Malijai
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.03.2015; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC; The Canadian Psychiatric Association
• Subjects: British Columbia - epidemiology; Committees; Criminals - legislation & jurisprudence; Criminals - statistics & numerical data; Criminology; Forensic psychiatry; Forensic Psychiatry - legislation & jurisprudence; Forensic Psychiatry - statistics & numerical data; Hospitals; Humans; Longitudinal Studies; Medical research; Mental Competency - legislation & jurisprudence; Mental disorders; Mental health; Mentally Ill Persons - legislation & jurisprudence; Mentally Ill Persons - statistics & numerical data; Methods; National Trajectory Project; Native peoples; Ontario - epidemiology; Provinces; Quebec - epidemiology; Review boards; Risk assessment; Studies; Trials; Ontario; British Columbia; Quebec; British Columbia Canada; Canada; Europe; Quebec Canada; not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder; mental health; mental disorder; forensic; review board; National Trajectory Project; criminality; violence
• ISSN: 0706-7437; 1497-0015
• DOI: 10.1177/070674371506000304

The National Trajectory Project examined longitudinal data from a large sample of people found not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder (NCRMD) to assess the presence of provincial differences in the application of the law, to examine the characteristics of people with serious mental illness who come into conflict with the law and receive this verdict, and to investigate the trajectories of NCRMD–accused people as they traverse the mental health and criminal justice systems. Our paper describes the rationale for the National Trajectory Project and the methods used to collect data in Quebec, Ontario, and British Columbia, the 3 most populous provinces in Canada and the 3 provinces with the most people found NCRMD.