6.2 Sample

The IAMHDCD project team developed 15 case studies of Indigenous individuals drawn from the Dataset based on the application of particular criteria. These criteria included combinations of Indigenous status, diagnoses, gender, history of substance use, homelessness, and agency and service system events and interactions (see Table 1 below). The sample includes five Indigenous women and ten Indigenous men who have histories of extensive contact with criminal justice and human service agencies. These case studies of real individuals have been used to inform and illustrate a number of studies examining the lifecourse interactions of people with mental and cognitive disability in the criminal justice system, including McCausland, Baldry, Johnson & Cohen (2013); Baldry, Dowse, McCausland & Clarence (2012) and the nested studies outlined in the following section.

Table 1: Indigenous Case Studies from the MHDCD Dataset