Identification of Severe Mental Illness: Analysis and Variation of Intake Procedures At the Greene County Jail

Prevalence findings indicate that inmates in correctional facilities are more likely to meet criteria for severe mental illnesses such as mood and thought disorders than individuals in the general population. Although legal and professional standards mandate screening for mental illness in jails, few procedures exist that can be completed in the limited time spans under which jails function. The Referral Decision Scale was compared with the current booking procedure at the Greene County Jail using crosstabulations. Although the RDS had a higher number of false positives, it also identified more mentally ill inmates than did the current booking procedure. Adjustment of cutoff points on this instrument found that ignoring individual scales and using an overall score was more accurate in detecting mentally ill detainees. Implications for future use of both instruments are discussed.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science in Psychology

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Psychology

Year

1999

Author dc:creator

• McLearen, Alix Meredith

Contributors dc:contributor

• Paul Companik

• Psychology

Statement dc:rights

• © Alix Meredith McLearen

Repository record dc:identifier

https://bearworks.missouristate.edu/theses/943

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:bearworks.missouristate.edu:theses-1944