Courtroom Alchemy: Case Managers and ‘Science’ of Mental Health Court Treatment

Much of the current policy debates on mental health courts (MHCs) centers on the efficacy of these specialty dockets, but few studies provide an in-depth examination of their complex inner-workings or their place in the history of mental health treatment in America. To explore these uncharted waters, Courtroom Alchemy is a groundbreaking ethnographic study of case managers in four Midwestern MHCs. I take the reader behind closed doors and into the courthouses, judicial chambers, and the local communities where these helping professionals deliver court-mandated treatment. Throughout the book, I vividly illustrate that case managers experientially blend treatment and law to discover best practices for reducing recidivism, what I call courtroom alchemy.