Pao Balandra Ari Cacelín Alex Domínguez María Aguilar Psychology in Jail Pao Balandra Ari Cacelín Alex Domínguez María Aguilar

Fun Facts Psychologists have been working within the federal prison system since 1955. In 2006, more than one-out-of-ten male offenders had a psychiatric diagnosis on admission to the federal prison system. This represented an increase of 71% over the previous nine years. During the same nine-year period, the number of women offenders diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder rose by 61% to one-out-of-five women. Typical diagnoses include: the major psychotic disorders, anxiety, depression, antisocial personality and alcohol and drug abuse. These rates are much higher than that of a comparable community sample (ex. 0.5 % of men in the community are diagnosed with a major mental illness versus 8% in federal prison and 7% versus 22% for depression, respectively).

Prison Psychologist A prison psychologist has an important role with society, since they are crucial for the rehabilitation for the criminals. ​ They have the task of treating murderers, sexual predators and violent offenders. ​ They listen to the untold stories of the prisoners, like the violence they used, the abuse, the drug addiction, but mostly they work with them to change their life cycle. ​ Prison psychologists are exposed to some of the worst atrocities that human beings are capable of, they also work to prevent that between inmates they commit additional crimes. ​

What do prison psychologists do? They do therapist groups for violent prisioners. ​ They work with prison psychiatrists, so that both diagnorse the mental disorders and to treat themm correctly.​ They also manage with with suicidal inmates and patients with schizophrenia and other pychotic disorders. ​ Also they help seriously mentally ill inmates to manage hallucinations.

What are psychologists doing in prison? The strategy provides that all offenders are screened for mental health problems on admission and receive an in-depth assessment, if warranted. People with mental illnesses in the community are generally managed by community based services and providers. Most offenders with mental health problems are placed in regular institutions where they can access psychological and other mental health services. For those offenders with demanding mental health needs, there are in patient settings at Regional Treatment Centers, which are psychiatric hospitals whose catchment’s area happens to be the other prisons in the region.

Psychologists are frequently called upon to provide crisis intervention for offenders, one of the reasons is that offenders are always at risk for depression and suicide and a large percentage of offenders at Treatment Centers are diagnosed with schizophrenia. Psychologists within the correctional system play a major leadership role and are involved at every step of the Strategy. Many of the regional and national coordinators of the components of the Strategy are psychologists. A psychologist oversees the mental health assessments that are completed on newly admitted offenders.

Treatment Approaches Psychologists may choose from a variety of intervention techniques and can use their professional judgment in selecting the most appropriate therapeutic approach to address an individual offender's mental health needs. In terms of treatment approaches, Cognitive Behavior Therapy is the most frequently employed due to the extensive literature on its effectiveness in dealing with criminal behavior. It has also been shown to be an evidence-based treatment for depression and schizophrenia and is frequently used by correctional psychologists in dealing with mental health problems.|

Some of the Challenges The single biggest challenge facing the correctional system is the increase in the numbers of offenders that will result from proposed legislative changes such as expanding the list of crimes that carry mandatory minimum sentences to include drug offences and to the end of Statutory Release. As the population of offenders swells in the system, more offenders with mental health problems will enter the system and have more difficulty earning early release. This will place an additional burden on the correctional system and an increasing role for psychologists.

References Psychology in Prision. (2010) In Correctional Service Canada . Retrieved from http://www.csc-scc.gc.ca/health/002006-0003- eng.shtml Prison psychologist careers. (2015). In Search Schools. Retrieved from http://www.psychologyschoolguide.net/career-guides/becoming-a- prison-psychologist/