ABSTRACT
Commensurate with the high rates of incarceration in the United States is the high number of imprisoned individuals who suer from a mental illness. Research indicates that a disproportionate number of inmates and detainees experience mental illness; however, prevalence estimates vary. At the conservative end of the spectrum, roughly 6%–11% of inmates in jail and prison are deemed currently in need of psychiatric care for serious mental illness, while 10%–15% require treatment for general mental illness (American Psychiatric Association [APA], Task Force on Outpatient Forensic Services 2009). Based on the 2012 estimated incarcerated population from the BJS, there were between 222,840 and 334,260 oenders with mental illness requiring treatment in U.S. prisons and jails at the year end of 2012. Teplin and Swartz (1989) noted that even aer adjusting for demographic dierences, the prevalence rates of schizophrenia and major aective disorder are two to three times
higher in jails than in the general population. Steadman and his colleagues (1987) found that the prevalence of severe or signicant psychiatric disability among sentenced felons is at least 15%. When coupled with mental retardation or brain damage, at least 25% of the inmate population in the New York State Department of Correctional Services was found to have at least a signicant psychiatric or functional disability. Other studies, using vague and overly inclusive criteria, have identied more than 60% of inmates as experiencing a “mental problem” (James and Glaze 2006).
