Description of an outpatient psychiatric population in a youthful offender's prison

Prisons are receiving increased numbers of inmates with mental and emotional problems. This study describes some of the characteristics and treatment of such an outpatient population. It was determined that a typical patient is a white male, 19 years old, of average intelligence, with a sporadic work record and poor academic performance, who quits high school in his freshman year. He has a history of substance abuse and is likely to have a multidrug habit. He is likely to have had a traumatic childhood and had psychiatric treatment as a child or young adolescent, as well as having attended special classes in school and counseling for drug abuse. The great majority of patients were diagnosed as having either mood, adjustment, or psychotic disorders. All were treated with a psychotropic medication and case management and also with some type of accepted individual and/or group counseling. In this population, there is a high incidence of expression of aggression requiring medication and counseling with the patient's permission. Patients responded well to treatment, but usually requested to discontinue treatment when symptoms diminished. However, approximately half of them returned for medication when symptoms recurred.