Exploring the Role of Poverty, Mental Illness, and Mental Health Treatment in Institutional Misconduct

• In Event: The (Stalled) Gender Revolution in Incarceration Contexts

Abstract

Research suggests that impoverished individuals are more likely to have mental health problems and less likely to receive treatment for these problems. At the same time, research shows that these individuals are also at an increased likelihood to be incarcerated. Among the incarcerated population, women have higher rates of mental illness than their male counterparts. Less research examines the impact poverty, mental illness, mental health treatment, and gender have on in prison experiences such as institutional misconduct. This study will examine the extent to which these conditions influence misconduct among incarcerated men and women. Policy implications and directions for future research will also be discussed.

Author

• Rachel Severson, University of South Florida