Prison Inmates Mental Illness

Do Prison Inmates Suffer from Mental Illness in Significant Numbers? Approximately 24% of males and 42.1% of the female population were incarnated in the mid 2000’s (Steadman et al., 2009, 761). How many of these inmates suffer from mental illness? According to Blitz, Wolff, and Shi (2008), approximately half of these inmates are known to suffer from a mental disorder (386). The assertion to be examined in this paper is that today’s prison inmates do not suffer from mental illness in significant numbers. By examining current empirical research, this assertion will be evaluated.
Background and Significance Mental illness defined by Barlow and Durand (2011) is a legal concept, typically meaning severe emotional or thought disturbances
It is to be expected that those who suffer from a mental disorder are more vulnerable to suffer from physical victimization while being incarcerated than those who do not suffer from a mental illness (Blitz et al., 2008, 385). Their participants included 7,221 male inmates and 564 female inmates, age 18 or older. The inmates were asked a series of questions with two varieties, each including if they were harmed by other inmates or staff members. The participants were also asked if they had ever been treated for mental illness in the past. The results that were found supported that those both males and females who suffered from mental illness were more likely to be physically harmed by another inmate or than those who didn’t suffer from any sort of mental illness. Males were 1.6 times more likely to be physically harmed by another inmate while females were 1.7 times more likely. Reports from males being physically victimized by prison staff were 1.2 times more likely among those with a mental illness than those without (Blitz et al., 2008, 390). There was no difference in reports about being physically victimized by prison staff among women who either suffered from a mental illness or did not suffer (Blitz et al., 2008, 391). It is found that prison is an extremely violent place for persons suffering with a mental illness. They are more likely to be physically harmed than those who do not have a mental illness. Blitz et al., (2008) suggest that in order to reduce the rates of violence among inmates with a mental illness, that prevention programs be created in order to educate those with mental illnesses about the risk of physical victimization and help them gain the skills to improve their safety and reduce their vulnerability (394). Overall, the study has shown that those who suffer from a mental