title: Mental health service recipients and prison work release: how do the mentally ill fare compared to other inmates in prison work release programs?
abstract: The objective of this study was to compare the success rate of the mentally ill and other inmates on prison work release within gender groups. Mentally ill (MI) men (n = 42) had a higher success rate (79%) than other men (NMI) (61%) (n = 49), but this difference only approached statistical significance (p = 0.07), and mental illness did not distinguish male success/failures in regression analyses. Mentally ill women (n = 51) had a statistically significant lower success rate (58%) than other women inmates (n = 49) (83%) on work release. The difference in rates, however, only occurred in the group of women who were currently in prison due to a parole violation, not new court commitments. Regression analysis confirmed the importance of mental illness and current commitment as a parole violator. A greater number of MI men should be allowed to participate in work release. Women with mental health issues who had prior trouble on parole may need enhanced services.
authors.affiliation: Central New York Psychiatric Center (CNYPC), Box 300 Marcy, NY 13034, USA. bruceway@omh.state.ny.us
authors.forename: Bruce B
authors.initials: BB
authors.lastname: Way
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Abreu
authors.forename: Doris
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ramirez-Romero
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Aziz
authors.forename: Donald A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Sawyer
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008605:Mental Health Services; D028642:Persons with Psychiatric Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D009519:New York City; D011329:Prisoners / Q000523:psychology*