Half of women in jail mentally ill

Half of women in jail mentally ill

By Jonathan Thompson The Independent 25 August 2002

More than half the women in jail are suffering from mental illness, says a new report. Campaigners seized on the new study to call for thousands of women to be freed and placed either in secure hospital units or in care-in-the-community programmes.

There are more than 4,000 women in UK jails. The research, conducted among 1,400 female prisoners at Holloway and about 900 others arrested around the country over a five-year period, found that 55 per cent of women jailed for the first time were displaying symptoms of mental illness.

The report, commissioned by the Revolving Doors Agency, a mental health charity, surveyed women arrested between 1997 and 2002 who were thought to be showing signs of mental health problems. Of these, 33 per cent had never had a diagnosis of mental illness and 48 per cent had never been in contact with community teams. The findings have led to calls for amendments to the proposed Mental Health Bill, which many have criticised for failing to deal with problems in the system.

"This study has highlighted very high levels of needs which are in stark contrast to the shortage of services for those in contact with the criminal justice system," said Crispin Truman, chief executive of Revolving Doors.

Juliet Lyon, director of the Prison Reform Trust, has called for prisoners with mental health problems to be transferred to secure hospital accommodation or care-in-the-community programmes. "This would surely be more humane and effective than locking up mentally ill women in large, overcrowded institutions miles from their homes."

Source: http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/health/story.jsp?dir=59&story=327416&host=3&printable=1

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