The Development of Psychoses in Prison

Abstract

When undertaking a description and classification of mental disorders occurring in prison, the investigator gets very little assistance from most of the literature available on the subject. Although German studies date back to Delbruch of Halle Prison, in 1852, not a great deal has been written on the topic. Those who have written have differed greatly in their description and classification due, largely, to the different types of prisoners coming under their care.Some have had large numbers of murderers and desperate criminals with long sentences. Others almost exclusively have had short term prisoners, such as come to jails and workhouses. Adler,' alone, of American investigators, has given us a classification and description of prison types which includes those contentious and paranoid prisoners usually referred to as suffering from Prison Psychoses. Other American students have been more interested in other phases, of the subject. Glueck2 dissected and classified the admissions to Sing Sing and pointed out the needs of the state for the proper segregation, custody and treatment of the various types. Fernald3 defined most clearly the position of the mental defective among criminals. White4 has given us individual studies of disorders developing under imprisonment before, during and after trial. The emphasis of all these, however, has not been upon the psychosis developing after commitment, as has the work of the German writers. Because material in the studies available is not comparable, there is little agreement among investigators upon the questions of predisposing causes, exciting factors, course or final outcome of the disorders found among prisoners. The gradual evolutionin prison management, with the removal of the more severe forms of punishment, probably has modified the material and influenced more recent classifications.