- 54 percent of local jail inmates had symptoms of mania, 30 percent major depression and 24 percent psychotic disorder, such as delusions or hallucinations.
- 43 percent of state prisoners had symptoms of mania, 23 percent major depression and 15 percent psychotic disorder.
- 35 percent of federal prisoners had symptoms of mania, 16 percent major depression and 10 percent psychotic disorder.
UPDATE: A commenter from Sentencing Law and Policy blog rightly points out: "Look closley at the methodology of this study -- it's poor. This is similiar to other studies by DOJ on this topic. For instance, there is no diagnosis in the DSM for "mania" -- mania is a symptom of bi-polar disorder, but not a diagnosis itself. Plus, any DSM diagnosis was allowed (but not via a SCID interview, but through self-report). I could go on and on..."
He's right, IMO. That number sounded high when I reported it. In Texas, to my knowledge, we don't have great statistics on this subject, but estimates I've heard range from 16-22% of inmates having "serious mental illness" of the type that can be diagnosed by a mental health professional - self-reported symptoms of "mania," as in the DoJ study, capture a much broader but less well defined pool of folks.
RELATED: For a grim read, see this report from 2002 (pdf) on how Texas uses administrative segregation - i.e., ad-seg, or 23-hour per day solitary confinement - for some mentally ill inmates literally for years. It was compiled by an expert hired as part of the denouement of the Ruiz litigation.
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5 comments:
Only local jails get the ones that aren't really criminals, but due to general looniness violate regulations and deal poorly with the police.
I would agree that those in local jails would be there for "dumb" things they did and got caught, like breaking a window, slashing tires, getting in a brawl, or public intoxication, among others. Perhaps some seek help after their first encounter with the (local) law?
Stress can overwhelm the mind. Being locked in a cage with criminals means there is no safe place to sleep, and that the threat of maiming and murder is always present. Jails are also noisy, to the extent that few people ever get decent sleep. Sleep-deprivation stresses the entire body. So does caging.
The surprise is that anyone could endure this torment for long. I wonder whether those figures are undercounts.
Actually jails are the habitat of first time offenders. They're not really criminally oriented. They feel that their imprisonment is unfair and helpless against "the system". Those who are in state and federal prisons have had time to adjust psychologically. It's just part of their lives by then. It's far less stressful. They expect dehumanizing attitudes.
Jails are the worst place to be, over time they will get mental illness of some kind for being there without any outside activities.
If you insolate yourself an a small room for a month you will get crazy or will have some kind of anormal behaviour when you go out.
health disorders
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