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Mentally ill offenders continue to contribute to mass-incarceration within the United States. The cost, both social and economic, of housing a large number of mentally ill inmates in our prison system has reached a breaking point. The need for empirically

Mentally ill offenders continue to contribute to mass-incarceration within the United States. The cost, both social and economic, of housing a large number of mentally ill inmates in our prison system has reached a breaking point. The need for empirically founded correctional research, with an emphasis on individuals who suffer from a mental illness, is crucial to reducing the number of incarcerated individuals in the United States. The current study analyzes whether mentally ill inmates reported statistically significant differences in levels of perceived reentry social support, when compared to their non-mentally ill counterparts. The current study utilized data from the APVP. The APVP contained a sample of 231 individuals, 121 female and 110 male, from two Arizona Department of Corrections facilities. The majority of respondents were white (44.58%), medium security (40.26%), non-married (77.49%), and had a mean age of 36.04 years (SD=11.74). The current study conducted both bivariate and multivariate analyses to determine whether mentally ill inmates perceived differences in the reentry social support available to them as compared to non-mentally ill inmates. Further multivariate analyses were conducted to determine whether there were any significant differences the key independent variable and the dependent variables across gender. Mentally ill female inmates reported significantly lower rates of perceived reentry social support in a number of emotional support factors. The findings of this study are a crucial first step for future empirical research on inmate perceptions of social support—perceptions that may directly affect successful reentry.
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    Title
    • Mental illness and perceived social support upon reentry: an analysis of inmates in Arizona
    Contributors
    Date Created
    2016
    Resource Type
  • Text
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    Note
    • thesis
      Partial requirement for: M.S., Arizona State University, 2016
    • bibliography
      Includes bibliographical references (pages 40-44)
    • Field of study: Criminology

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    Statement of Responsibility

    by Nathan L. Ostertag

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