Individuals with serious mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and depression are overrepresented in the criminal justice system. This overrepresentation has become a growing concern nationally among mental health workers, corrections departments, lawyers, public policy makers, and human rights advocates. Although estimates vary widely, approximately 14 to 16% of people in the criminal justice system have a serious or persistent mental illness. This translates to over one million people.
The Los Angeles County jail system is one of the largest mental health treatment facilities in the country, treating over 3,000 inmates every day. Though jails and prisons treat hundreds of thousands of inmates each year, they are not adequate treatment centers. The purpose of these jails and prisons is to punish, not to control mental health symptoms, and they are not funded for that task. Due to the lack of consistent mental health resources, minimal mental health treatment staff, and the stressful nature of a corrections setting, people with serious mental illness rarely receive the treatment that they need in jail and prison. Instead, they often end up getting punished for breaking the rules, which can result in longer prison stays and even solitary confinement.
In addition to having trouble in prison, offenders with serious mental illness have a difficult time when they are released back into the community. In fact, people with mental illness are significantly more likely to fail the terms of their probation and parole. Studies have found that offenders with mental illness are around twice as likely to have their parole suspended than offenders without mental illness. This results in a return to custody, often within a year, further perpetuating the overrepresentation of individuals with mental illness behind bars.
This article examines why people with serious mental illness are overrepresented in jails and prisons, and what can be done to prevent criminal justice involvement among this high-risk population. In order to develop effective and efficient prevention and intervention strategies, it is critical to understand the role of mental health symptoms in causing and perpetuating criminal activity.