NCJ Number
80478
Journal
Federal Probation Volume: 45 Issue: 3 Dated: (September 1981) Pages: 33-37
Date Published
1981
Length
5 pages
Annotation
Three historic phases in the use of mental health services for mentally ill offenders in the California correctional system are identified and described.
Abstract
When the California Department of Corrections was established in 1944, psychiatric care was provided only to the most seriously ill inmates. Those receiving such care were viewed as being essentially different from other inmates, and once diagnosed as mentally ill, they were removed from regular prisons to mental hospitals and later, when it was built, to the department's medical facility. In the second historic phase, the role of psychiatric services in corrections expanded under the view that all offenders are mentally ill and should be managed according to psychiatric principles. In the third and current stage of psychiatric involvement in corrections, there has been a withdrawal of psychiatric involvement in specifically correctional functions. The design of psychiatric care for offenders follows the model of the community mental health program. Prevention is emphasized; mental health professionals are accessible to every prisoner and parolee; and a range of services is provided, including office consultations, supportive living units, and inpatient hospital care. In April 1980, an overall policy statement for mental health services in corrections was registered into the California Administrative Code. It is included in information given to each inmate at reception. Fifteen footnotes are provided. (Author summary modified)