Hoke Samantha
Online J Issues Nurs. 2015 Jan 31;20(1):3.
The United States prison system is the largest in the world. Mental illness is disproportionately represented within this system where half of all incarcerated individuals have a mental illness, compared to 11% of the population. Four of 10 inmates released from prison recidivate and are re-incarcerated within three years. A social hypothesis suggests recidivism is the result of compounding social factors. Mentally ill individuals often find themselves in less than ideal circumstances of compounding social factors such as illicit substances and unemployment. Prison life may provide improved social situations and a rehabilitating environment, yet corrections often fall short of meeting acceptable standards of healthcare. This article provides a brief overview of healthcare in the corrections environment and discusses factors that affect mental healthcare in prisons, such as characteristics of the prison population and social policy. The article also addresses factors impacting mentally ill persons who are incarcerated, including access and barriers to mental health treatment and efforts to reduce recidivism.
美国监狱系统是世界上规模最大的。精神疾病在该系统中的比例过高，所有被监禁者中有一半患有精神疾病，而在总人口中这一比例为11%。每10名从监狱获释的囚犯中有4人会再次犯罪并在三年内被重新监禁。一种社会假说认为，累犯是多种社会因素叠加的结果。患有精神疾病的人常常发现自己处于诸如非法药物使用和失业等多种社会因素交织的不理想环境中。监狱生活或许能提供改善后的社会状况和一个康复环境，但惩教机构往往达不到可接受的医疗保健标准。本文简要概述了惩教环境中的医疗保健情况，并讨论了影响监狱精神医疗保健的因素，如监狱人口的特征和社会政策。文章还探讨了影响被监禁的精神疾病患者的因素，包括获得精神健康治疗的机会和障碍，以及减少累犯的努力。
