The New Asylums

Fewer than 55,000 Americans currently receive treatment in psychiatric hospitals. Meanwhile, almost 10 times that number—nearly 500,000 mentally ill men and women—are serving time in U.S. jails and prisons. As sheriffs and prison wardens become the unexpected and often ill-equipped caretakers of this burgeoning population, they raise a troubling new concern: Have America's jails and prisons become its new asylums?

The New Asylums, which premiered in May 2005 as part of the PBS FRONTLINE series, goes deep inside Ohio's state prison system to explore the complex and growing issue of mentally ill prisoners. With unprecedented access to prison therapy sessions, mental health treatment meetings, crisis wards, and prison disciplinary tribunals, the film provides a poignant and disturbing portrait of the new reality for the mentally ill. The full version of the film, as well as resources and information about incarceration and mental illness, are available at http://www.pbs.org/frontline/shows/asylums/.

OSI's After Prison Initiative hosted a screening of excerpts from The New Asylums on September 16. The clips were followed by a few words from Mike Sullivan, FRONTLINE’s Executive Producer for Special Projects, and a panel discussion featuring:

• Miri Navasky and Karen O'Connor, Producers, The New Asylums;
• Reginald Wilkinson, Director, Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction;
• Ann-Marie Louison, Director of Technical Assistance and Mental Health Policy, Center for Alternative Sentencing and Employment Services (CASES);
• James Gilligan, author of Violence: Our Deadly Epidemic and Its Causes and Visiting Professor of Psychiatry and Social Policy, University of Pennsylvania.

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