Grant: Travel Awards - Institute Community Support

The aim of this literature review is to have a better understanding of how many homeless persons who have a mental illness commit crimes, are involved with the justice system, or are the victims of crimes. Another goal of the study is to identified the factors associated with these issues. The findings indicate high levels of criminal justice involvement, crime commission and victimization. Between 62.9% to 90% of homeless persons with a mental illness have ever been arrested, between 48% to 67% of them have ever been incarcerated and between 73.7% and 87% have ever been the victims of crime. Results also indicate that young men with a longer duration of homelessness who also have substance abuse difficulties and who report high psychiatric and medical needs are more likely to be involved with justice. Women with a history of child abuse and depression are more likely to be the victims of crimes. We discuss the implications of these findings, particularly for the development of trauma-oriented services for homeless individuals with a mental illness throughout Canada.