Indicators of Mental Health Problems Reported by Prisoners and Jail Inmates, 2011-12

Note: See appendix table 3 for percentages, standard errors, and significance tests. *Comparison group. **Difference with the comparison group is significant at the 95% confidence level. aIncludes inmates with a score of 13 or more on the K6 scale. See Methodology. bIncludes inmates who reported they had ever been told by a mental health professional they had a mental disorder. cIncludes inmates with a score of 7 or less on the K6 and who had never been told by a mental health professional they had a mental disorder. Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Inmate Survey, 2011–2012. About 1 in 7 state and federal prisoners (14%) and 1 in 4 jail inmates (26%) reported experiences that met the threshold for serious psychological distress (SPD) in the 30 days prior to a survey that was conducted between February 2011 and May 2012 (figure 1). Similarly, 37% of prisoners and 44% of jail inmates had been told in the past by a mental health professional that they had a mental disorder. Half of prisoners (50%) and a third of jail inmates (36%) either did not meet the threshold for SPD or had not been told they had a mental health disorder.