NCJ Number
98158
Journal
Journal of Offender Counseling, Services and Rehabilitaton Volume: 9 Issue: 4 Dated: (Summer 1985) Pages: 19-27
Date Published
1985
Length
9 pages
Annotation
A subjective evaluation of population trends within correctional facilities suggests that prisons are receiving a higher proportion of mentally ill prisoners than previously and because of this research in the identification of this population is called for.
Abstract
The Psychological Screening Inventory was routinely administered to prisoners at reception centers within the Wisconsin Correctional Facilities to assess potential psychological maladjustment. Of 1,707 male prisoners between the ages of 18 and 36 administered the PSI at one correctional facility 82 were transferred to mental hospitals during incarceration. Scores on the five scales of the PSI for this criterion group were compared with population means using a t-test corrected for heterogenity of variance. Transferred inmates had significantly higher scores on the Alienation and Discomfort scales than the prison population. Possible explanations for significantly lower scores for the criterion group on the Defensiveness scale are (a) a character structure already predisposed towards more extreme pathology and thus less effective or more primitive psychological defenses, or (b) an outcome of being psychologically dysfunctional and an inability to maintain a more normal level of defensiveness as measured by the PSI. The results were discussed in terms of utility of the PSI as a screening device for detecting inmates likely to experience psychological maladjustment. (Author abstract)