7.6 Summary
- People with mental and substance use disorders are disproportionately represented in jails and prisons.
- Screenings, assessments, and evaluations are used to identify needs of those housed in prisons and jails, but these are often inadequate to ensure needs are met.
- Housing is an important tool in management of people with mental disorders in prisons and jails. Overly restrictive settings must be used with caution.
- Victimization is an important risk for those with mental disorders in jails and prisons. Laws like PREA attempt to reduce this risk, along with attention to and reduction of various risk factors.
- Research has shown that the high prevalence of mental disorders in jails and prisons consistently produces poor outcomes for both affected people and correctional agencies. In 2002, evidence-based practices were put into practice to utilize effective strategies to improve behavioral health outcomes. These efforts promote personal recovery and reduce criminogenic risk for people transitioning out of the community from a controlled environment (Osher, Steadman, & Barr, 2002).
- While many correctional settings have begun implementing evidence-based practices for this population, there is still work that needs to be done to provide adequate treatment to incarcerated people diagnosed with mental disorders.
- Effective transition planning needs improvement to better support people transitioning out of a controlled environment and reentering the community. Without supportive ‘warm hand offs’ to treatment providers in the community, the likelihood of recidivism greatly increases.
7.6.1 Key Terms
- Alternative Incarceration Programs
- Assessment instrument
- Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)
- Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT)
- Eighth Amendment – Standard of care (Estelle v. Gamble)
- Medication supported treatment
- Milieu
- Power differential
- Right to refuse treatment (Washington v. Harper)
- Right to treatment (Bowring v. Godwin)
- Screening
7.6.2 Licenses and Attributions for Summary
Some information summarized or copied verbatim from public domain: