Katherine Zamora

ENG123
Literature Review
Over 20 percent of inmates in the United States prison and jail inmates suffer from severe
mental illness. Over the history of stat mental health institutions, the deinstitutionalizations
caused by mental health care and health care reforms caused a decrease in hospital patients
which lead to the increase of mentally ill homeless and inmates. Mentally ill patients need to be
treated in proper care in order to reduce the population of prison inmates. Overall, mass
incarceration can be reduced greatly by implication a more invasive mental analysis for criminals
entering the jail systems, and increase in funding and support of state psychiatric hospitals.
The reason behind the large population of mentally ill can be shown by analyzing the
history of deinstitutionalization. Deinstitutionalization and its Consequences, is an article written
by Deanna Pan in Mother Jones magazine focused on the history of the deinstitutionalization of
mental care hospitals and how it was a key factor in the increase of prison inmates in the jails.
Deinstitutionalization of the mental ill hospitals is the removal the mentally ill of the psychiatric
cares of hospitals to community care. The number of people in psychiatric hospitals reached its
peak in 1955 and in order to reduce the numbers of patients, President John. F. Kennedy signed
the Community Mental Health Act and provided funding for community based mental health
care so that the hospital patient numbers could decrease. When Medicaid was passed in 1965,
there were another increase of releasing patients out of state mental hospitals and nursing homes
into non-psychiatric specialized hospitals because the Medicaid program did not cover treatment
in institutions for mental diseases. In 1967 the California Legislator had passed Latermen-Petris-

Short-Act which resulted in a more difficult process for involuntary hospitalization of mentally
ill people and after a year the number of mentally ill people in the criminal justices system
doubled. By 1984, a study in Ohio found that 30 percent of those homeless were thought to
suffer from serious mental disorders. As attempts in reforming the mental health care system
continue to fail, by 2004 there were three times more severe mental ill people in jails and prisons
then there were in hospitals. From this article, the correlation between the deinstitutionalization
of state psychiatric hospitals and the increase of prison inmates can be clearly connected.
The article summarized the history and creates connection between the large amount of
mentally ill and the history of decreasing state mental health institutions. The types of illness and
behaviors of the inmates need to be analyzed and questioned to determine whether mental illness
is truly a factor for the increase of incarcerations in the United States.
Prevalence of Criminal Thinking among State Prison Inmates with Serious Mental Illness
journal examines the criminal thinking of mentally disordered offenders. Studies have shown that
persons with serious mental illnesses are 1.5 more times likely to be put in jails and prisons
rather than being hospitalized for treatment. The purpose of this study is to question whether the
mentally ill in prisons are imprisoned because they are mentally ill or because they are criminals.
The study involved 265 incarcerated males and 149 incarcerated females who were found to
exhibit mentally ill behaviors. Ninety-two percent were diagnosed with serious mental illness. .
Psychiatric diagnosis from 178 of male illnesses show that 22% had schizophrenia, 12.7%
schizoaffective disorder 17% bipolar disorder, 15.2% mood disorders, 4.7 anxiety based
disorders, 9.4% impulse control disorders and 8.7% bipolar disorders. Those with mental
illnesses produced similar criminal thinking scores on the PICTS (Psychological Inventory of
Criminal Thinking Styles) and CSS-M (Criminal Sentiments Scale Modified) to non-mentally ill

offenders. This journal analyzes the types of mental illness inmates suffer from and compares
their thinking to other criminals who suffer for non-mental illnesses and questions whether it is
the illness to blame or the person.
The journal brings to light the controversy behind the large number of the mentally ill
population in jails and prisons. Is those mentally ill in jail committing crimes because of their
illness or committing them because their own thinking? The fact of the matter is that a large
population of the inmates in jail do suffer from mental illness. In the study reported that 95% of
the inmates they studied were serving a sentence of 10 years or less. This shows that most of the
inmates who were diagnosed with mental illnesses will be released without proper treatment.
Although they may share the same criminal thinking as other criminals, they lack the mental
skills allowing them to changing after being released compared to someone who does not have a
mental illness, and therefore is more likely to be sent back to prison in the future. Prisons and
jails are not a proper place for individuals who suffer from severe mental illnesses and a proper
solution is needed to decrease this large population of those incarcerated.
The Treatment Advisory Center (TAC) provides solutions to reduce the issue of mass
incarceration from focusing on mental illnesses. TAC states that 1 in 5 inmates suffers from a
disordered thinking that is caused by severe mental illness. With 20 percent of individuals in
prisons and jails suffering from mental illness, finding solutions to decrease the number will
ensure a decrease in mass incarceration. TAC suggests to make reduction of mentally ill inmates
a national priority. Also, to implant evidence-based practices to push those suffering from mental
illnesses in jails and prisons into the mental health care systems. Adoption of court-ordered
assisted outpatient treatment for people with severe mental illnesses who struggle with voluntary
consent to mental health treatment. Restore public psychiatric hospital beds to ensure availability

of inpatient care. Lastly to promote understanding of use of civil commitment laws from funding
programs to educate the public, school officials, judges and law enforcers in order to decreases
the dangers the mentally ill pose to others. These solutions over time can greatly reduce the
mental illness population in prisons and jails and overall solve the problem of mass
incarceration.
There is more people in the United States in jails that are mentally ill then there are
mentally ill in state psychiatric institution. From the time of the deinstitutionalization of state
mental health facilities, the increase of prison inmates suffering from mental illness grew. With
that growth and lack of proper mental health treatments in jails, the problem cannot be solved
unless a change is made. The solution of mass incarceration involves more evasive mental health
evaluations for criminals and increase in funding for state psychiatric institutions. With
implementing these solutions, overtime the numbers of inmates would decrease and the mental
health of a large population in the U.S would improve.

Bibliography
1. Morgan, Robert D., William H. Fisher, Naihua Duan, Jon T. Mandracchia, and
Danielle Murray. "Prevalence of Criminal Thinking among State Prison Inmates with
Serious Mental Illness." Law and Human Behavior 34.4 (2010): 324-36. Print.
2. "TIMELINE: Deinstitutionalization And Its Consequences." Mother Jones. Web. 18
Jan. 2016.
3. "FOCUS ON MENTAL ILLNESS TO REDUCE MASS INCARCERATION Treatment Advocacy Center." FOCUS ON MENTAL ILLNESS TO REDUCE MASS
INCARCERATION - Treatment Advocacy Center. Web. 14 Jan. 2016.