Probation and mental illness

Abstract

Levels of mental illness amongst prisoners are high, but little is known about the situation of those serving community sentences. More information is needed at a time when the UK Department of Health is seeking to improve mental health service access for all offenders. To estimate the prevalence of both current and lifetime mental illness, an epidemiological survey was conducted on individuals under probation supervision in Lincolnshire, England. Assessment included the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Inventory and other measures of mental health. We estimate that around 39% of individuals in this probation population are suffering from current mental illnesses, anxiety disorders being the most common. Furthermore, around 60% have substance abuse problems and around 48% have personality disorders. Lifetime mental illness, co-morbidity and dual diagnosis were also found to be high. In common with other groups of offenders, the prevalence of mental health problems in those serving community sentences is high

Borderline personality disorder: Prevalence and psychiatric comorbidity among male offenders on probation in Sweden

“…Although similar to the relatively few prior studies on the mental health of offenders on probation (e.g. 18% in [65]), client participation rate was a low 25% and some caution is required when interpreting and generalizing our findings. The dearth of subjects diagnosed with BPD also lead to imprecise estimates of prevalence and comorbidity.…”

Psychiatric disorders, substance use, and executive functioning in older probationers

“…Over two thirds of the sample presented with clinically relevant mental health symptoms, with high rates of comorbidity. Rates of alcohol abuse and dependence were comparable with rates in men aged 45 years and older in the general population (17-30% in a U.K. household survey [McManus et al, 2007]) and older prisoners (Hayes et al, 2012) but lower than rates identified in younger probationers (56% [Brooker et al, 2012]). Rates of depression were more similar to prevalence rates observed in older prisoners (30% [Fazel et al, 2001]; 34% [Hayes et al, 2012]) than to older adults in the general population (U.K. survey estimates 6-14% [McManus, Meltzer, Brugha, Bebbington, & Jenkins, 2007]).…”

“…The inhibition condition on this test simulates the traditional Stroop task (and will be referred to as the Stroop test). It has good reliability and validity and has been used widely in research with offending groups, including probationers and elderly prisoners (Brooker et al, 2012;Combalbert et al, 2016;Lurigio et al, 2003;Rivlin, Hawton, Marzano, & Fazel, 2010). The D-KEFS color-word interference test has acceptable validity and reliability (Delis et al, 2001) and has been used with offender samples (Broomhall, 2005 for different psychiatric disorders and symptoms.…”

Probation’s role in offender mental health

“…UK research undertaken in one probation Trust suggests that 38.7% of probationers have a current mental illness, and 48.6% have a past/lifetime disorder (Brooker et al, 2012). Moreover, there is a high rate of co-morbidity and dual diagnosis in this population, with over half of those with a current mental illness screening positive in more than one diagnostic group, and 72.3% also having a substance misuse problem (Brooker et al, 2012).…”