Handbook Of Mental Health Assessment And Treatment In Jails

"Few places are more chaotic than jail. For incarcerated individuals and staff alike, the volatility of the jail environment is based in large part on its status as a temporary institution. Unlike prisons, where all incarcerated individuals have been convicted of a crime and are serving long sentences (typically of more than a year), jails overwhelmingly house individuals who are waiting a disposition to their court case (approximately 74%; Sawyer & Wagner, 2020); a minority of jailed individuals are also serving sentences under a year for minor offenses. While a jail is a temporary holding area for persons awaiting adjudication, temporary can mean days or years depending on factors often outside the control of the jailed person. In jails, people charged with violent felonies are often housed alongside citizens arrested for minor crimes as they all await a disposition to their case. Unlike in prison, where incarcerated individuals know the outcome of their case and sentence length, in jail these are unknowns"--