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Mental Health Service Recipients and Prison Work Release: How Do the Mentally Ill Fare Compared to Other Inmates in Prison Work Release Programs?
Author(s) -
Way Bruce B.,
Abreu Dan,
RamirezRomero Doris,
Aziz David,
Sawyer Donald A.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
journal of forensic sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.715
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1556-4029
pISSN - 0022-1198
DOI - 10.1111/j.1556-4029.2007.00472.x
Subject(s) - prison , mental illness , mentally ill , mental health , psychiatry , psychology , work (physics) , significant difference , clinical psychology , medicine , criminology , mechanical engineering , engineering
The objective of this study was to compare the success rate of the mentally ill and other inmates on prison work release within gender groups. Mentally ill (MI) men ( n = 42) had a higher success rate (79%) than other men (NMI) (61%) ( n = 49), but this difference only approached statistical significance ( p = 0.07), and mental illness did not distinguish male success/failures in regression analyses. Mentally ill women ( n = 51) had a statistically significant lower success rate (58%) than other women inmates ( n = 49) (83%) on work release. The difference in rates, however, only occurred in the group of women who were currently in prison due to a parole violation, not new court commitments. Regression analysis confirmed the importance of mental illness and current commitment as a parole violator. A greater number of MI men should be allowed to participate in work release. Women with mental health issues who had prior trouble on parole may need enhanced services.