NCJ Number
111747
Journal
Corrections Today Volume: 50 Issue: 3 Dated: (June 1988), 116, 118, 120
Date Published
1988
Length
3 pages
Annotation
Inmates with special needs, such as the mentally ill, mentally retarded, sex offenders, substance abusers, and those with AIDS require special prison services.
Abstract
The delivery of mental health services requires professional staff and the training of other correctional staff to treat and manage mentally ill inmates. Although mentally retarded inmates do not currently have a constitutional right to treatment as do mentally ill offenders, they are entitled to personal safety and freedom from undue restraint. This is the basis for providing special housing, if needed, and specialized programs to help them cope with the prison environment. In modern correctional systems, drug and alcohol education and counseling programs are available to inmates, but unless treatment is continued in the community after release, substance abuse and associated behaviors are likely to recur. Although sex offenders have no constitutional right to treatment, some parole agencies will not consider certain sex offenders for parole unless they have participated in a prison sex offender treatment program. Problems faced in dealing with inmates having the AIDS virus include the cost of proper medical care, fear among both inmates and staff, and the identification of inmates with AIDS. 2 references.