Skip to main content

The Rural and Remote North: An Ecological Exploration of Mental-Health-Related Police Contacts in Northern British Columbia

Resource type
Thesis type
(Thesis) M.A.
Date created
2015-12-11
Authors/Contributors
Abstract
Past literature demonstrates that the subset of the population with mental illness is at an increased risk of contact with law enforcement. For persons with mental illness residing in areas characterized by social disorganization, this risk is even greater. Nevertheless, much research neglects to address these relationships in the framework of rural northern environments. Using census and police data, this study sought to demonstrate a relationship between social disorganization and rates of Mental Health Act (MHA) calls in northern British Columbia. In an effort to explore a possible spatial association between mental-health-related police contacts and health care accessibility, distances between the location of MHA calls and the nearest health centre were also determined. Findings suggest that social disorganization theory may not generalize to rural environments, particularly for the explanation of mental health phenomena. Furthermore, long distances to health services may impact police response to mental health emergencies in these environments.
Document
Identifier
etd9306
Copyright statement
Copyright is held by the author.
Permissions
This thesis may be printed or downloaded for non-commercial research and scholarly purposes.
Scholarly level
Supervisor or Senior Supervisor
Thesis advisor: Verdun-Jones, Simon
Member of collection
Download file Size
etd9306_KBrine.pdf 1.37 MB

Views & downloads - as of June 2023

Views: 34
Downloads: 0