Hoke, S. (2015).

Mental Illness and Prisoners: Concerns for Communities and

Healthcare Providers. Online Journal Of Issues In Nursing, 20(1), 1.
Relevancy This article is mainly about reincarceration of people with mental
illness and factors inside and outside of prison that may effect that. This article is
not exactly what my topic is over but it provides some very useful information I can
use. It gives a good description of how mental health is dealt with in prison.
Accuracy I didnt detect any biases in this article. Its not putting anyone at fault
it is simply stating observations and possible explanations for reincarceration. It also
provides some ideas for how to prevent that.
Currency It was written in January of this month so it is very current. . It is
important to know the date of sources on this topic. If its up to date it gives you an
idea of the situation currently. If its out of date, It gives you an idea of how much
has changed.
Authority I couldnt find who the author is personally but this was written in a
nursing journal so Im assuming she is a nurse. It was double blind peer reviewed,
editorial board reviewed, and expert peer reviewed. Even if the author is not an
authority I think it holds credibility because it was published in a nursing journal and
it was reviewed by people of authority.
Purpose This article is strictly informational. The author is making observations
and providing ideas on why the reincarceration rate is so high for people with
mental illness. The information is clearly presented and unbiased.
Rating I would rate this as a 5. Its educational and backed up by plenty of
sources. Its been peer reviewed. Its also very current.
Hills, H., Siegfried, C., & Ickowitz, A. (2004). Effective prison mental health services:
Guidlines to expand
and improve treatment (2004 ed.). Washington, District of
Columbia: U.S. Department of Justice National Institute of Corrections.
Relevancy This book is slightly relevant to my topic. It discusses almost every
population group in prison and effective ways to manage their mental health. It
might be beneficial to understand how to treat every population group but I think
that its almost too much information. I am looking for a more general approach to
mental illness in prison.
Accuracy I think this book might be slightly biased only because it was written by
a government agency. It provides good sources but it is more of an instruction
manual. Either way, the book is not pointing fingers it is just providing instruction on
how to handle different types of mental illness.
Currency Its not current. It was written in 2004. A lot of the information is still
similar but that was over 10 years ago and our knowledge of mental health has
grown vastly since then. I would say that how mental health is managed in prison is
different now then it was in 2004.
Authority The authors of this book are authorities on the topic. It was published
by the national institute of corrections so they have much experience with the
prison system and the inmates that are a part of it. Plus, the national institute of
corrections is respected and is not going to publish something that has not been
reviewed and approved.

Purpose This is an instruction manual. The intended audience are people working
in correctional facilities. It simply states the protocol of how to manage mental
illness in different prison populations.
Rating I would rate this at a 1. Its outdated and its not exactly what Im looking
for. Im sure there is relevant information but its too much information to sift
through.

Reingle Gonzalez, J. M., & Connel, N. M. (2014). Mental Health of Prisoners:

Identifying Barriers to
Mental Health Treatment and Medication Continuity.
American Journal Of Public Health,
104(12), 2328-2333.
Relevancy This article is extremely relevant to my topic. It discusses how the
continuity of care for prisoners with mental illness is lacking. It also discusses how
only severely ill patients are treated. It provides an idea of what the potential
outcome for these shortcomings are.
Accuracy I dont detect any biases. Yes, they are revealing shortcomings of our
prison system and how we care for those with mental illness. Yes, there are harsh
words but it is all supported by credible references.
Currency It was published in 2014 so it is current. I doubt much has changed
within a year. It would also be interesting to see if some of the authors predictions
have come true within this one year.
Authority I believe this source has authority. It was published by the American
Journal of Public Health. The authors are affiliated with the Department of
Epidemiology, Human Genetics, & Environmental Sciences at the University of
Texas.
Purpose The purpose of this article is to inform and possibly to promote change.
It is intended for the public. It is clearly written and supported by facts.
Rating I am rating this as a 5. . Its educational and backed up by plenty of
sources. Its been peer reviewed. Its also very current and exactly what I am
looking for.
Warrilow, A. (2012). Improving the mental health care of prisoners. Mental Health
Practice, 15(8), 20-24.
Relevancy This article is relevant to my topic. It discusses ways to improve the
management of mental health in prison, despite barriers. I can use this to show that
there is something that needs to be done and how to do it.
Accuracy It doesnt appear to be biased. It is simply stating there is a problem
and providing ways to help solve that problem. It doesnt use harsh language and it
is backed up by sources. The information is provided in a matter of fact way without
pointing fingers.
Currency It was written in 2012 so its not quite as current as some of my other
sources but it isnt out of date. . It is important to know the date of sources on this
topic. If its up to date it gives you an idea of the situation currently.
Authority It was written by an RN for Her Majestys Prison Service. The fact shes
an RN for a prison service holds some authority but Europes prison system might
be different from ours. Still I believe they would face a lot of the same illnesses and

a lot of the same barriers to treating them that we do. It was peer reviewed and
published in a nursing journal.
Purpose The purpose of this article is to inform and possibly promote action. The
author is describing discrepancies to how the mentally ill are being treated and
providing ways to improve. The audience is anyone in healthcare or anyone working
with prisoners.
Rating I would rate this as a 4. The article is discussing mental illness in prison in
general but she is from Europe so she might not have first-hand experience with the
US. Still she has good sources and relevant information. Its also quite current.
Boseley, S. (2015, September 2). Ex-prisoners with mental health problems 'more
likely to reoffend' Retrieved September 30, 2015.
Relevancy This article is perfectly relevant to my topic. It discusses issues with
the prison system relating to mental health that I hadnt thought of. An example of
this is the want to avoid putting too much emphasis on mental illness as a reason of
violent crime. According to the article, people fear that by doing that others will
think that anyone with a mental illness is capable of violence.
Accuracy I dont support any biases. These article seems to hit all sides of the
issue. She references multiple studies and authorities on the topic. There are no
cited sources but one could easily find the sources from the information she
provided in the article.
Currency This article was written last month. It is important to know the date of
source on this topic. If its up to date it gives you an idea of the situation currently. If
its out of date it gives you an idea of how much has changed.
Authority The author has little authority on the topic. She is the health editor of
this online newspaper. She would know where to look and who to ask though.
Purpose The purpose of this article is to inform. It is presented from multiple
points of view and it information is clearly presented. The audience is the general
public.
Rating I would rate this as a 3. The article provides some great information from
valid sources but the author herself is not an authority on the subject. It a great
place to start though.

Lets treat those with mental illness. The Leavenworth Times (KS) 14 Aug. 2015,
Opinions: A4. NewsBank. Web. 25 Sep. 2015.
Relevancy this article focuses a lot on the funding that goes behind mental illness
treatment. This is extremely relevant to my topic considering finances are one of
the biggest road blocks to treatment of mental illness in the prison system. The
article describes how it would be cheaper in the long run too prevent violent out
bursts then to wait until they happen.
Accuracy This is definitely an opinion piece. Its in the opinion section of a
newspaper and it doesnt have any references. She makes a lot of claims with
nothing to back them up. For example she states, we know that it costs 2-3 times
as much to confine the mentally ill in a hospital or jail but doesnt say how she
knows that or where she go that information.

Currency This was written less than 2 months ago. It is important to know the
date of source on this topic. If its up to date it gives you an idea of situation
currently. If its out of date it gives you an idea of how much has changed.
Authority The author has no authority on the topic. She is a writer for a
newspaper and wrote the story over debates that had recently taken place. What
she wrote was all opinion stemming from gun control.
Purpose The purpose of this article is possibly to inform but mainly to entertain or
promote conversation. Its presented from one point of view. The intended audience
is local readers of the newspaper.
Rating I would rate it as a 2. It has pretty much no credibility. It can lead to topics
to research further though.