The Effects of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Disorders on Institutional Misconduct Among Female Inmates

Mentally ill offenders are disproportionately involved in prison misconduct. Although mental illness is recognized as a risk factor for poor prison adjustment, the additive nature of mental illness co-occurring with substance use disorders has not yet been examined. Using data from the Survey of Inmates in State Correctional Facilities, we compare the institutional misconduct experiences of female inmates with co-occurring disorders (CODs) to those for inmates with singular disorders or no disorders. Bivariate and multivariate analyses indicated that the risk of misbehavior was higher for inmates with mental illness combined with a drug dependence/abuse disorder than for inmates with singular disorders, but their disciplinary experiences did not statistically differ. These findings suggest that inmates with CODs may pose a uniquely complex challenge for prison administration, which has important implications for corrections policy and practice. Keywords: prison misconductco-occurring disordersmental healthprisonersfemale inmates Acknowledgments This research was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (Grant No. R01-DA021320, G. Zarkin, RTI International, Principal Investigator). Opinions expressed are those of the authors, and not necessarily of the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The authors alone take full responsibility for errors or omissions that may have been made. A preliminary version of this paper was presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Criminology, Philadelphia, November 2009. Thank you to Lauren Glaze of the Bureau of Justice Statistics for assistance with analysis of data from the Survey of Inmates in State Correctional Facilities. We also extend thanks to our colleagues, Katherine Auerhahn and Marc Swatt, who both provided statistical guidance for this paper.