RESEARCH WEEKLY: Women in Rural Jails Disproportionately Impacted by Serious Mental Illness
By Ellen Gurung
Women in rural jails are more likely to screen positive for a serious mental illness compared to men in rural jails and all individuals incarcerated in urban jails, according a study published this month in Criminal Justice and Behavior by researchers from Wayne State University. Although many jails have staff available to assess mental health needs among inmates, these screening methods can be inaccurate and result in inefficient use of jail-based mental health resources, which could disproportionately impact women incarcerated in rural areas. The authors suggest investing in better screening mechanisms and providing alternatives to incarceration for those with mental health needs.
Women in rural jails are more likely to have a serious mental illness
The researchers examined a sample of 3,787 individuals in jails across ten Michigan counties and compared women in rural jails to their gender and geographic counterparts. A screening was conducted to determine eligibility, and the remaining sample was analyzed for gender and geographic indicators, mental health needs and mental health service usage.
The results showed that 23.1% of the study population screened positive for a serious mental illness, 54.5% of the total sample screened positive for a substance use disorder and 16% tested positive for a co-occurring serious mental illness and substance use disorder. 43.1% of women in rural jails screened positive for serious mental illness, making them 1.7 times more likely to screen positive for serious mental illness compared to rural men, urban women and urban men. Women in rural jails were also predicted to be 1.5 times more likely to have a co-occurring serious mental illness and substance use disorder compared to their gender and geographical counterparts. In addition, both men and women in rural jails were significantly more likely to receive jail-based mental health services than urban women and urban men. However, individuals in rural jails were also severely overlooked and under-identified compared to those in urban jails. Jail staff only assessed 8.4% of rural women and 6.7% of rural men for having a mental health concern, despite 43.1% of rural women and 29.9% of rural men screening positive for serious mental illness.
These results imply that there is a major discrepancy between screened mental health needs and jail-identified mental health needs, and that jails in rural areas seem to provide mental health services to more women and men compared to what is actually screened.
Implications for further investigation
Previous studies have shown that incarcerated individuals have high rates of reported mental health issues and substance use disorders. However, these results imply that jail staff may not be able to accurately screen for mental health issues, especially for women in rural counties. The authors suggest that jails need to implement improved screening instruments in order to better serve their inmate population, utilize mental health resources more effectively and streamline the transition from prison to community re-entry. These results also underscore the value of providing alternatives to incarceration for those with mental health issues, especially in rural areas where mental health resources are scarce.
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