Interventions for Adult Offenders With Serious Mental Illness (AHRQ)

An overview of this Evidence Report is provided below. To view the entire report, click here.

Numerous reports indicate that individuals with serious mental illness (SMI) are overrepresented in the criminal justice system. This review focuses on offenders with schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder, or major depression. Prevalence estimates of SMI among incarcerated adults range from 15 percent to 25 percent. These estimates are three to five times as high as in the general population, in which the prevalence of SMI ranges from 5 percent to 8 percent. In its report on prisons and offenders with mental illness, the organization Human Rights Watch indicated that up to 19 percent of adults in State prisons have significant psychiatric or functional disabilities. The National Commission on Correctional Health Care reported the...