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Prisoners Perceived To Have Mental Health Problems Are Especially Likely To ...


Prisoners perceived to have mental health problems are especially likely to be targeted for bullying and discriminatory practices, by inmates and prison staff.
Segregation is occasionally used to discipline prisoners, who break rules, in ordinary prisons and is a prevalent practice in high security installations, where it can become an inhumane and repulsive practice. Prisoners undergoing segregation are apt to lose dignity and develop mental disorders.
The development of suicidal tendencies is very high, especially among young people with histories of self harm, first time prisoners who find the prison experience to be extremely distressing and difficult to cope with, prisoners who are ashamed of themselves or are facing long prison terms, and those with severe psychiatric disorders.
Prisons are unrelentingly bleak and completely inappropriate for persons with acute mental problems. In spite of this fact, prisons in the UK accommodate several thousand prisoners with grave mental problems, with varying degrees of comorbidity. Offenders, sometimes sentenced for minor offences, run the risk of developing severe mental disorders, and are in danger of their lives being adversely affected because of the prison environment. Very few prisoners are transferred to specialised institutions for treatment and most prisoners need to stay on, in difficult and inhospitable surroundings. While surroundings differ extremely from prison to prison, many inmates have to tolerate difficult circumstances and put up with stern administrations. Prejudice and maltreatment, separation from associates and relatives, and extended time used up in incarceration can cause significant damage to prisoners, irrespective of their being in remand or already sentenced. Unlawful narcotics are widely available, a fact well known to all prison administrations, and which has the potential to increase mental heath problems.
6. Unmet Mental Health Needs in Prison
The previous section on the conditions of prisoners with mental health ailments reveals the significant extent of the problem and its widespread prevalence in UK prisons. Statistics generated by studies have constantly revealed that a huge proportion of adults (90%) and an even larger proportion (95%) of children in prisons suffer from mental ailments. Considering that the prisons, in England and Wales, witness traffic of approximately 140,000 people every year, and that too on the base of a 75,000 person permanent occupancy, it becomes obvious that an overwhelming proportion of prisoners come for short tenures on charges that are not very grave.

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