NCJ Number
89276
Journal
Corrective and Social Psychiatry and Journal of Behavior Technology Methods and Therapy Volume: 29 Issue: 1 Dated: (1983) Pages: 22-28
Date Published
1983
Length
7 pages
Annotation
Prison administrators should use the Health Opinion Survey (HOS) developed by Macmillan to assess the mental health status of inmates and should provide both preventive mental health programs and specific programs for those prisoners whose scores on the HOS are 34 and over.
Abstract
Study data came from 203 male felons who were consecutive new admissions to the Diagnostic and Reception Center of Central Prison in Raleigh, N.C. Comparison data came from 210 nonprisoners who had taken part in an assessment of psychiatric disorder in a predominantly rural population. The prison group had a mean score of 31.23, which was significantly higher than the control group mean of 25.48. A total of 32 percent of the prisoners had scores of 34 or over, which indicated that they were psychiatrically disordered. The prison group as a whole was borderline with respect to its mental health. However, HOS scores did not differ significantly for different age, racial, educational, and occupational groups. The HOS deserves wider use for possible modification and further validation on representative samples of prison populations. It is a simple, inexpensive instrument which is easy to administer and has been shown to be valid and reliable in several epidemiological surveys. Twenty-six references are supplied.