Women’s Health Care in Correctional Settings
The Lilac HouseStudies have shown incarcerated women have high rates of mental illness and substance use disorders, which are often inadequately treated in the community. In prisons, 66% of females had a history of a mental health diagnosis compared to 35% of males (Bronson & Berzofsky, 2017). Similarly in jails, 68% of females had a history of a mental health diagnosis compared to 41% of males (Bronson & Berzofsky, 2017). In state prisons, 69% of females met criteria for drug dependence or abuse (using DSM-IV criteria; Bronson, Stroop, et al., 2017).