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Incarcerated Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People: Understanding the Prevalence of Mental Illness

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Added on  2023-06-05

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In this report we will discuss about mental illness among incarcerated aboriginal and below are the summaries point:-

Incarcerated Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People: Understanding the Prevalence of Mental Illness

   Added on 2023-06-05

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Prevalence of mental illness among incarcerated Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
people
Targeted discrimination and intergenerational trauma of Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander population has repeatedly undermined their health and well-being throughout history,
resulting in poorer health status and inequity, and contributing to the over-representation of
Indigenous Australians in Australian prisons. Incarceration can have significant health detriments,
especially for the Indigenous population who represent 28% of the country’s total custodial population
despite being less than 3% of the Australian population (Kendall et al., 2020). Major population surveys
have deemed mental health as one of the major contributing factors to suicide attempts of the
incarcerated indigenous population. This literature review will analyse the prevalence of mental health
amongst imprisoned Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples by analysing quantitative and
qualitative data from several bodies of literature. The first part of this review will draw on research
findings that focus on psychological distress statistics of incarcerated indigenous Australians, while the
second will focus on the prevalence of suicide attempts. The final portion will attend to literature
exhibiting how these conditions are exacerbated for incarcerated parents. Overall, these findings
contribute to understanding the extent to which mental illness impacts incarcerated Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander people, compared to their non-Indigenous counterparts.
Psychological Distress
The term psychological distress refers to symptoms of stress, anxiety, and depression. High levels of
these are indicative of impaired mental health and mental disorders like depressive disorder
(Heffernan et al., 2012). Heffernan et al. (2012) conducted a critical study on 396 Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander individuals (331 men and 65 women) incarcerated in Queensland prisons through
Composite International Diagnostic Interviews (CIDI) that found a remarkably high prevalence of
psychological distress; the 12-month prevalence of mental disorder was 73% among men and 86%
among women. With this, they identified that awaiting sentencing (on remand), being housed in a
single occupancy cell, or being convicted of a violent offence are contributing factors. Conversely, using
the same method of CIDI, Heffernan et al. (2009), referring to Andrews & Peters' (2003) survey of 226
males and 51 female indigenous prisoners, reported a less significant – yet still noteworthy –
prevalence of psychotic distress among men (50%), yet found almost identical for that of women
(85%). While Heffernan et al. (2012) conducted an additional interview to confirm the CIDI results,
Andrews and Peters (2003) did not set out to gain validation of the CIDI, and, as a result, the
information they collected was limited. Heffernan et al.'s (2012) efforts to eliminate cultural bias by
employing trained interviewers of Indigenous descent further strengthened their research, contrasting
to Andrews and Peters (2003) study, which lacked cultural consideration.
Suicide
Prison suicide in is a major health concern, occurring between three and eight times more than the
rate observed in the general community (Larney et al.). Larney et al. (2012) conducted a cross-section
survey on a stratified sample of 996 inmates at a New South Wales prison to conclude that 31.6% of
incarcerated indigenous individuals had attempted suicide, compared to 18.7% of non-indigenous
people. They compared their findings with the results of the 2007 National Survey of Mental Health
and Wellbeing, which identified stark disparities between the national prevalence (3.2% of Australian
adults), the incarcerated non-indigenous population (18.7%), and that of Indigenous inmates (31.6%);
Incarcerated Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People: Understanding the Prevalence of Mental Illness_1

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