EFFECTS OF INCARCERATION ON POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER
Introduction to the Problem and Research Goals
The problem is that the prison population is growing at an alarming rate, and has reached a population density, unparalleled in the history of the United States of America. This population presents multiple concerns to society, including the possibility that the prisoner may suffer from Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as a consequence of incarceration experiences. This diagnosis may also be exacerbated by pre-prison experiences. Studies regarding effects of incarceration on PTSD are lacking. The goal of this research is to investigate the effects of incarceration on PTSD and to examine pre-prison experiences that may contribute to this effect.
On January 20, 2003, the number of people imprisoned within the Federal Bureau of Prisons reached an all time high of 165,005. Currently, over 2.2 million people are confined in state and federal prisons. One in thirty-two United States Citizens are incarcerated or on probation or parole (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2002a). From the mid-1970s through the mid-1980s, the American prison population increased by 84 percent (Bureau of Criminal Justice Statistics, 1997). Per 100 thousand-population, the increase was from 129 to 216. Since the mid-1980s, the prison population has continued to climb, however, at a reduced rate (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2002a). At the state prison level, incarcerated populations ranged from 100 percent of rated capacity to 115 percent of rated prison capacity. At the federal prison level, the inmate population represented 131 percent of the rated capacity of all federal prisons in the United States (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2002a). Conservative estimates place the costs of incarcerating an individual at $30,000 per year. Prisons are being constructed at an unprecedented rate (Department of Justice, 2003).
Once the prisoner is...