Prison Madness The Mental Health Crisis Behind Bars and What We Must Do About It

by Kupers, Terry; Toch, Hans

• ISBN13: 9780787943615
• ISBN10: 0787943614
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1999-02-11
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass

Summary

A Disturbing and Shocking Expose-A Passionate Cry for Reform Prison Madness exposes the brutality and failure of today's correctional system-for all prisoners-but especially the incredible conditions Andured by those suffering from serious mental disorders. "A passionately argued and brilliantly written wake-up call to America about the myriad ways our penal systems brutalize our entire culture. Dr. Kupers not only diagnoses the problem, he also offers a set of solutions. I hope this book will be read by all concerned citizens and voters, for it conveys truths that are vitally important to all of us."-James Gilligan, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, and author of Violence: Reflections on a National Epidemic

Author Biography

TERRY KUPERS M.D., a psychiatrist and professor at the Wright Institute in Berkeley, is cochair of the Committee on the Mentally Ill Behind Bars of the American Association of Community Psychiatrists. He has served as an expert witness in more than a dozen class action lawsuits concerning the conditions of confinement and the adequacy of mental health services in jails and prisons. Kupers has also served as a consultant to the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice and to Human Rights Watch.

Table of Contents

Foreword	ix	(6)
Preface	xv	(16)
Acknowledgments	xxxi
Introduction	1	(8)
Part I: The Mental Health Crisis	9	(84)
1. The Mentally Ill Behind Bars	9	(30)
2. Why So Many Prisoners Develop Mental Disorders	39	(26)
3. The Failure of Current Mental Health Programs	65	(28)
Part II: What Goes on Behind Bars	93	(100)
4. Racism: A Mental Health Hazard	93	(20)
5. Special Problems for Women	113	(24)
6. Rape and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder	137	(20)
7. Lack of Contact with Loved Ones	157	(18)
8. Prison Suicide	175	(18)
Part III: An Immodest Proposal	193	(82)
9. The Possibilities and Limits of Litigation	193	(24)
10. Recommendations for Treatment and Rehabilitation	217	(40)
11. The Folly of Law and Order	257	(18)
Endnotes	275	(12)
For Further Reading	287	(4)
About the Author	291	(2)
Index	293