Title: Serious Mental Illness Prevalence in Jails and Prisons - Treatment Advocacy Center
Headings: Serious Mental Illness Prevalence in Jails and Prisons
Serious Mental Illness Prevalence in Jails and Prisons
BACKGROUND PAPER
September 2016
SUMMARY
BACKGROUND
SMI IN JAILS
SMI IN STATE PRISONS
SMI POPULATION ESTIMATES
MENTAL ILLNESS BEHIND BARS

Content: In Mississippi’s Hinds County Jail in 2005, one inmate was described as having “tore up a damn padded cell that’s indestructible, and he ate the cover of the damn padded cell. We took his clothes and gave him a paper suit to wear, and he ate that. When they fed him food in a Styrofoam container, he ate that. We had his stomach pumped six times, and he’s been operated on twice.” Mentally ill inmates are more likely to commit suicide. Suicide is the leading cause of death in correctional facilities, and multiple studies indicate as many as half of all inmate suicides are committed by the estimated 15 % to 20% of inmates with serious mental illness. A 2002 study in the state of Washington found that “the prevalence of mental illness among inmates who attempted suicide was 77%, compared with 15% [among inmates] in the general jail population.” In California in 2002, the Los Angeles Times headlined: “ Jail Suicides Reach Record Pace in State,” and added: “ Some experts blame the recent surge on forcing more of the mentally ill behind bars.”