By Marie Litalien - Sudbury Northern Life
Sudbury psychologist Dr. Michel Lariviere and a team of local researchers and mental health workers will travel the country to study the prevalence of mental illness among women in federal penitentiaries.
The Correctional Service of Canada will use the data collected to create an up-to-date profile of the mental health diagnoses of female offenders. The information will be used to better meet the mental health needs of women prisoners.
“What really needs to happen for the federal government is to get a sense of how prevalent certain mental disorders are in their population of offenders,” said Lariviere. “One group of offenders that seems to have been studied less are women who are incarcerated.”
