[Medical-social study of women incarcerated in the Fleury-Merogis prison in 2000 and 2001].
This socio-medical study was conducted in the women's penitentiary of Fleury-Mérogis in 2000 and 2001 and includes a total of about 500 patients of whom 70% are between the ages of 18 and 39. Their level of education varies; 63% of them are foreigners, of which 60% do not speak any French. Their physical state of health is satisfactory in general, but more than half of them suffer from minor psychological problems often secondary to the prison's conditions. Major psychiatric illness is rare. Among their addictions, the one noted most frequently is smoking; alcoholism and drug addiction are less widespread. The author underlines the need for a comprehensive care structure for the prisoners, on the socio-economic and family levels as well as the physical and psycho-pathological levels. He advocates in order that the medical care become the activity of a single service of Internal Medicine, and no longer as it exists in the present system in France with two distinctly separate departments--one in charge of caring for the body, and the other in charge of caring for the mind. Finally, he emphasises the need for a true sense of team work among all of the actors involved in the care of these women in difficult situations.
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D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D005602:France; D006801:Humans; D007388:Internal Medicine; D001523:Mental Disorders; D008603:Mental Health; D011329:Prisoners; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders; D016387:Women's Health