Mental Illness Behind Bars: The Numbers
- 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.