Offenders With Mental Illness in Prisons, Treatment for

Rates of mental illness are higher among incarcerated populations than among community populations. Various explanations for this phenomenon have been discussed in the literature, with mental illnesses proposed as direct or indirect causes of criminal behavior, correlates of other factors associated with crime (e.g., community socioeconomic factors), or consequences of incarceration. Regardless of how persons with mental illnesses come to reside within prisons, they present a number of challenges to criminal justice professionals charged with the provision of health care, the management of correctional institutions, and the protection of basic human rights. Generally speaking, mental health treatment refers to any intervention targeting problems of thought, emotion, or behavior. The unique characteristics of the prison environment influence mental health treatment in a number of ways, ...

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