Critical Issues - Co-Occurring Mental and Addictive Disorders
From: American Journal of Public Health, Vol. 84, No.2, February 1994
Psychiatric and Substance Abuse Disorders among Male Urban Jail Detainees
Linda A. Teplin, Ph.D.
Psycho-legal Studies Program, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Northwestern University Medical School, and Northwestern Memorial Hospital
Abstract:
This paper presents prevalence rates by race/ethnicity and age for nine psychiatric and substance use disorders found in a random sample of 728 male jail detainees. Two thirds of the sample detainees had had a disorder other than antisocial personality during their lifetimes; half of these had had an episode within 2 weeks of the interview. More than 30% currently had either a severe mental disorder or a substance use disorder. Detainees with severe mental disorders or substance use disorders were most often in jail because they had committed nonviolent crimes. Policy implications of the results are discussed.
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