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Mental Illness Behind Bars: The Numbers

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  • 283,800 inmates in prisons and jails are mentally ill (16 percent of total inmate population in mid-1998)
  • 16 percent of state prison inmates are mentally ill
  • 7 percent of federal inmates are mentally ill
  • 16 percent of local jail inmates are mentally ill
  • 29 percent of white female state prisoners are mentally ill, the highest rate of any category (20 percent of African-American females and 22 percent of Hispanic females are mentally ill)
  • 13.2 percent of mentally ill inmates had been convicted of murder (compared with 11.4 percent of other prisoners)
  • 12.4 percent of mentally ill inmates had been convicted of sexual assault, compared with about 8 percent of other inmates

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics report, "Mental Health and Treatment of Inmates and Probationers," written by BJS statistician Paula M. Ditton.

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