Mental Health Status of Prisoners in an Urban Jail

The mental health status of a group of 486 admissions to the Philadelphia Prisons was systematically examined in a carefully controlled study using multiple indices of psychopathology. In addition to measures of psychopathology, demographic information and descriptive personality and intelligence data were collected on all subjects. Subsets of subjects also received individual psychiatric interviews and psychological evaluations. The results indicate that approximately two-thirds of the subjects were identifiable by relatively stringent criteria as being psychiatrically disturbed and in need of specific mental health treatment services, and 34% were identifiable by all indicators of psychopathology used. Furthermore, 11% were in need of immediate inpatient psychiatric hospital care. Implications for treatment planning in correctional service settings are discussed.