OtherANALYSIS AND COMMENTARY

The Shift of Psychiatric Inpatient Care From Hospitals to Jails and Prisons

H. Richard Lamb and Linda E. Weinberger
Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Online January 2005, 33 (4) 529-534;

Article Figures & Data

Tables

  • Table 1

    Changes in State Mental Hospital Beds Based on the Years 1955 and 2000

    Year19552000 (December)
    Number of beds559,00059,403
    U.S. population165,000,000273,600,000
    Beds/100,000 population33922
  • Table 2

    Changes in Number of Inmates in Jails and State and Federal Prisons Based on the Years 1978 and 2000

    Year19782000
    Number of inmates465,7601,937,482
    U.S. population223,000,000273,600,000
    Inmates/100,000 population209708
  • Table 3

    Severely Mentally Ill Persons in Jails and Prisons in 2000

    Year2000
    Total number of inmates1,937,482
    Number of severely mentally ill inmates, according to the lowest estimated percentage (16%)*309,997
    U.S. population273,600,000
    Severely mentally ill inmates/100,000 population113

    • * According to the most recent methodologically sound estimate of the number of severely mentally ill (major depression, schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders, and bipolar disorder) inmates, which ranged from 16% to 24%.

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