Mental Health
Are Prisons and Jails Helping or Hurting Efforts to Curb the Opioids Epidemic?
The U.S. is in the throes of an opioid crisis: it’s caused over 40,000 deaths annually since at least 2013, and the estimate that opioids caused 67,000 deaths in 2017 shows the toll is still climbing rapidly. That’s greater than the number of deaths nationwide in a year from gunshots, auto crashes, or HIV/AIDS. Official…
Read MoreDOJ Report Slams Housing of Mentally Ill Inmates
In a sharply critical report, the Department of Justice (DOJ) Inspector General Michael Horowitz takes issue with how the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) houses mentally ill inmates in the federal prison system. The report, “Review of the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ Use of Restrictive Housing for Inmates with Mental Illness,” issued July 12,…
Read MoreDOJ Surveys Mental Health Among Prison and Jail Inmates
About one in seven state and federal prisoners, and one in four jail inmates report having serious psychological distress, according to a study released by the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics on June 22. The report was based on a survey DOJ conducted on the incidence of mental health problems among inmates…
Read MoreBrain Injuries and Criminal Behavior
By Christopher Zoukis Thanks in large part to recent well-publicized incidents involving the National Football League, the impact of brain injuries has become a topic of interest to the general public. When highly-paid professional athletes who participate in contact sports engage in bizarre, criminal or suicidal behavior, people want to know why. Traditionally, the American…
Read MoreSynthetic Marijuana Poses Big Problem for Bureau of Prisons
Federal inmates get random urine tests for signs of use of drugs like heroin, cocaine or marijuana. But in the alcohol and drug rehabilitation web newsletter The Fix, former federal inmate turned-writer Seth Ferranti, who served time for an LSD offense, argues the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) has yet to come to grips with…
Read MoreFolsom Prison Programs Improve Lives Inside and Outside its Walls
By Christopher Zoukis Johnny Cash may have talked about time “draggin’ on” at Folsom Prison in his ’60s-era hit song, but times at California’s second oldest prison have changed. Folsom State Prison first opened in 1880 and has come a distance from its harsh, punitive roots, increasingly offering a wide range of rehabilitation and re-entry…
Read MoreState Prison Suicides Climbed 30% in One Year
The number of inmate suicides in state prisons climbed by more than 30 percent during a one-year period, according to a recent report from the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) in the Department of Justice. The statistical study, Mortality in State Prisons, 2001-2014, released on Dec. 15, noted that in 2013, 192 state prison…
Read MoreNew Federal Study Shows Half of Incarcerated Veterans Have Mental Disorder
By Christopher Zoukis A report compiled by a well-respected prisoner group indicates that while the Massachusetts Department of Corrections is diligent in collecting profits from prisoners’ commissary purchases, it has failed to spend those funds on prisoner benefit purchases, as required by state regulation — to the tune of a $2 million surplus for the…
Read MoreVirtual Reality Behind Bars For Real Change
By Christopher Zoukis Already a hot topic in the gaming world, virtual and augmented reality technologies are slowly spilling into other venues such as museum exhibits and educational institutions. But could these technologies someday be used behind bars? In prisons, where education and training resources can be scarce and difficult to administer, could VR be used…
Read MoreStudies Suggest Parental Incarceration is More Damaging to Children than Death of a Parent
By Chris Zoukis A study published in the September 2014 issue of the Journal of Health and Social Behavior found much higher rates of significant health and behavioral problems among children of incarcerated parents as opposed to children with similar demographic, socioeconomic and familial characteristics. The research, conducted by Prof. Kristin Turney at the University…
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