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Mental health consumers are inappropriately housed in jails and prisons due to a lack of necessary treatment in the community. They need to be diverted into a mental health alternative to incarceration. For those who are incarcerated, mental health services need to be improved. Many people know these two facts. Most, however, know little about female consumers in prison and their specific issues.
Female convicts constitute a small but growing portion of the prison population. Compared to male convicts, female convicts are more likely to suffer from mental illness, are less likely to have committed violent crimes, and are less likely to have their needs met. Because of these reasons, female prisoners should be diverted from custody when possible, and provided adequate prison treatment when diversion is impossible.
According to the Correctional Association of New York (ACANY), as of January 1, 2005, New York State’s female prisoners constitute only 4.5% of all state prisoners, but the population has been growing. Since the early 1970s, the number of female prisoners in New York has grown at a rate 1.5 times that of men. Much of this has to do with drug crime convictions.
Women in prison have a higher rate of mental disorder than do men who are imprisoned. Nationwide: 23% of female prisoners have a mental disorder compared to 16% of men. In New York, 30% of female prisoners have a mental disorder compared to 11% for men: a much greater difference than the nationwide figures. Nearly 80% of imprisoned women in New York are in prison for a non-violent crime, according to the ACANY.
Women’s prisons have not traditionally received the same programming (e.g., education, work programs) as men. Women’s prisons have also often failed to meet healthcare needs, whether physical or mental. In addition, the particular concerns of female prisoners (e.g., concern for dependent children) have not been given adequate attention in the past.
Consumers need to be diverted from prison when possible and at least provided adequate mental healthcare in prison when diversion isn’t possible. Female prisoners, probably because of their small number in absolute terms, are often ignored.
The number of female prisoners is growing and female prisoners have a greater need than men for mental health treatment because a greater percentage of female prisoners have a mental disorder. While the reason for this gender difference is not completely known, the fact that female prisoners have a higher rate of mental illness has held true over time.
Finally, given that female offenders are not typically violent nor do they tend to recidivate, female prisoners would make good candidates for probation. In a 2002, Bureau of Justice Statistics study, 53% of men released from prison return while only 39% of women do. Probation would enable these women to receive mental health treatment in the community without creating additional risk to the community. These female consumers would benefit and society would save money at the same time.