Additional Topics
Data on the health status of inmates in prisons and jails are not routinely collected by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). There are some exceptions. Surveys of prisoners conducted at intervals include questions about health. Since 1990 BJS has also collected data on the prevalence of Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) and has reported its finding…
The Census of State and Federal Adult Correctional Facilities (2000) included survey questions on inmate health and is the most recent survey of the health status of state and federal prisoners, but the Bureau of Justice Statistics has not yet published the results. Data from the 1997 survey provide a self-assessment of prisoners' state of health. To that the BJS has added data from officia…
An HIV-positive person is infected with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus. HIV interferes with and eventually destroys the body's immune system. Once the late stage of the disease is reached, the person has Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. AIDS is incurable and leads to death. HIV/AIDS is transmitted in sexual contact, through breast-feeding of babies by an infected mother, and by blood.…
Beginning in the 1970s, there was a movement to de-institutionalize the mentally ill and reintegrate them into society. This widespread trend resulted in the closing of many large-scale mental hospitals and treatment centers. With fewer options open to them, the mentally ill more often came into contact with law enforcement authorities. Morris L. Thigpen, Director of the National Institute of Corr…
Data on injuries suffered by prisoners, whether in accidents or in fights, also date back to the 1997 survey of state and federal prisons. BJS has not published any new data since Medical Problems of Inmates, 1997, a report by Laura M. Maruschak and Allen J. Beck that was published in January 2001. The 1997 BJS data includes statistics on injuries and is based on prisoner reporting. In the report,…
In September 2003 President George W. Bush signed into law the Prison Rape Elimination Act. This act mandates that the Bureau of Justice Statistics begin a comprehensive program to monitor the prevalence of rape in prisons and develop a set of guidelines to reduce such crimes. While the problem is acknowledged to be a major one, few studies have been conducted on the subject of rape in prison, and…
Telecommunications links make it possible for physicians and other health care specialists to evaluate and treat patients who are hundreds or thousands of miles away. This technology, called telemedicine, offers the prospect of providing prisoners with cost-effective health care. For example, telemedicine makes it possible for
TABLE 6.14 Injuries reported by state and federal inmates since ad…
Citing this material
Please include a link to this page if you have found this material useful for research or writing a related article. Content on this website is from high-quality, licensed material originally published in print form. You can always be sure you're reading unbiased, factual, and accurate information.
Highlight the text below, right-click, and select “copy”. Paste the link into your website, email, or any other HTML document.
User Comments Add a comment…