Mental illness in jails and prisons

The large number of mental patients in prisons and jails and the challenges that they pose for proper services have become a problem that is practical ly intractable. With the concerns about the violence perpetrated by the men tally ill adding further to the problem, more research is required into coo rdination of services among branches of government, interinstitutional arra ngements, and better community best practices to divert the mentally ill an d to prevent reincarceration, Curr Opin Psychiatry 12:677-882. (C) 1999 Lip pincott Wiliiams & Wilkins.