Do Inmates With a Self-reported Mental Illness Have More Prior Incarcerations?

• In Event: Prisoners' Mental, Physical, and Emotional Well-being

Abstract

Previous literature asserts that “people with mental illness are falling through the cracks of this country’s social safety net and are landing in the criminal justice system at an alarming rate” (Bernstein & Seltzer, 2003, p. 143). Accordingly, approximately 4.2% of American adults have been identified as having a serious functional impairment as a result of a mental illness (National Institute of Mental Health, 2013), while in contrast 16% of incarcerated adults in America have been identified as having a functional impairment secondary to a mental illness (Torrey, Kennard, Eslinger, Lamb, & Pavle, 2010). Through an analysis utilizing a negative binomial regression model, of previously collected data, the 2004 Surveys of Inmates and Federal Correctional Facilities (SISFCF) (ICPSR 4572), this research was able to determine that individuals who self-reported having received a diagnosis of a mental illness do have more prior incarcerations than inmates who did not report having received a diagnosis of a mental illness. By evaluating the relationship between mental illness and incarceration, the impact of mental illness on the correctional system can be further examined, and policy may be directed towards criminal justice system improvements for mentally ill offenders.

Author

• Andrea Wexler, Northeastern University