Assessing and Treating Offenders with Mental Illness

Abstract

Commentators have long lamented that correctional institutions have become this century's ill-equipped, de facto mental health asylums. This is believed to reflect many social drivers including the deinstitutionalization movement and a lack of resources for the care for mentally ill persons in the community; although the independent contribution of bed closures is unclear. This chapter examines the prevalence of mental illness in correctional populations (prisons vs. jails; men vs. women) and the legal requirements for the provision of mental health services to incarcerated individuals. It proposes a new model for delivering evidence-based care. The STAIR model draws together fundamental evidence-based strategies for service provision to offenders with mental health needs, including recommendations for Screening, Triage, Assessment, Intervention, and Reintegration (i.e., STAIR) components. The future burns bright for psychologists, including in correctional and forensic psychiatric settings, with comprehensive approaches, and new approaches such as virtual reality available for implementation now and innovative biological technologies likely available within the next decade. Nevertheless, the next generation of correctional psychologists has a heavy burden to bear, as there remain many challenges to ensure the most appropriate services are implemented in correctional contexts. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved)