Essay On Mental Illness In Prison

Their are around 500,000 mentally ill people that are put away in prisons and jails. In the documentary “The New Asylums”,Ohio's state prison system reveals the issues that are ongoing with mentally ill inmates. The major problem we have today is that no one is taking care of the people of these people.

Untreated mental illness is dangerous and over time we have learned that locking people with a mental illness is not the solution but makes it worse. People with untreated mental illness face many consequences. “People with untreated psychiatric illnesses comprise 250,000 people, of the total homeless population” (mentalillnesspolicy.org). The quality of life for these individuals is extremely heart breaking, and many are victimized regularly.

The prison system is very expensive for taxpayers because they have to pay to employ the officers, they have to pay for the building, the tools, the food for them to eat, there clothing and bedding. As stated here “The more money a state spends on building and running prisons, the less there is for everything else, from roads and bridges to health care and public

Today there are more mentally ill people in prisons and jails in the United States than any hospital or psych facility in this country. Cook County Jail in Chicago, Illinois is the largest mental health institution in the country. When a mentally ill person gets arrested for a violent crime they stay three to four times longer than a regular violent offender. “One third of those incarnated in cook county jail suffers from psychological disorders.” According to a 2006 Justice Department study, more than half of prisoners in the United States Suffer from some sort of mental health problem. The study also says that among female inmates one third of them have some type of mental disorder. In prisons and jails, prisoners sit in their cells majority

Some say mental illness is an invisible disease, one that begins to eat someone from the inside out. Being mentally ill comes in many different forms: from basic depression and anxiety, to schizophrenia and depersonalization. These disorders can make a person feel as though they are losing control over what they are doing, as well as losing sight on what makes them normal. Mental illness can make a person do things that a normal person would not do, simple because of a person 's moral and ethical values. Sometimes, however, a person who is mentally ill commits crimes that are unforgivable. So, in lieu of these crimes, does that mean that the mentally ill should be punished, to the extremes of the death penalty, or should they be forced into

There are so many mentally ill people in correctional facilities because most families do not know how to help their loves ones who suffer from a mental illness, so the call the police for help. Majority of the police officers do not know what to do or how to handle people with a mental illness disease. Police officers who are not trained to deal with the mentally ill often do not recognize that person is ill. Some police officers do not recognize if the individual should or not go to jail or a treatment center or medical facility. The impact of law enforcement and the judicial system dealing with people with a mental illness is to assist the inmates with the help they need. Also, the correctional facilities help inmates with mental illness

For the Application of the Criminal Justice System project of the Criminal Justice course, I chose the arrest of John Burke. This case is about the arrest and sentencing of John Burke who had shot and killed Joseph Ronan. Twenty-five year old John Burke agreed to meet with 22 year old Joseph Ronan at Ronans home, in Reading, Massachusetts on Monday, August 15, 2011 around 1pm, with the intent of purchasing Percocet pills. (Boston.com, 2013) However, shortly after entering Ronans home, Burke opened fire (News, 2011), and after shooting Joseph Ronan several times, with the belief that Ronan was involved in a robbery at Burkes apartment in April 2011 (Boston.com, 2013), fled the home. Ronans grandfather (Daniel, 2011), who had been in the home

If an insanity plea is successful, it can be implied that mental illnesses can be dangerous or harmful. Also, that the person with the mental illness is going to be treated and hopefully learn how to handle such an illness. Then perhaps that person can go free after a while. On the other hand, if an insanity plea is unsuccessful, then it can be implied that the person with the illness may not get treatment. Although, if the person is just using a mental illness as an excuse, then he or she is giving other people with a mental illness a bad name.

Mental health courts handle people with mental illness who have been charged of a crime. Mental health court is defined as “a specialized court docket for certain defendants with mental illnesses” where the individual’s mental health is first evaluated (Bureau of Justice Assistance, 2008, p.4). Then, judicial staff and mental health professionals decide a treatment plan for the person (Bureau of Justice Assistance, 2008). Mental health court is an acceptable system because it allows people with mental illnesses to be treated differently than in a traditional court system.

Prior to the mid-1960 virtually all mental health treatment was provided on an inpatient basis in hospitals and institutions. The Community Mental Health Act of 1963 was established with its primary focus on deinstitutionalizing mentally ill patients, and shutting down asylums in favor of community mental health centers. It was a major policy shift in mental health treatment that allowed patients to go home and live independently while receiving treatment, (Pollack & Feldman, 2003).

So how do you punish the criminals and treat the mentally ill? That was the question that many states were wrestling with. States answered this question by building separate prisons and Asylums. Early prisons were commonly holes in the ground like abandoned mines and populated with both criminals and mental ill people(Brinkley, A. 2013 pg 333). As the understanding of the punishment for the criminals improved, states responding by building Penitentiaries with New York being first. Separate institutions called Asylums were built to house and care for the mentally ill. This original reform idea quickly faded as both institutions became out

The term "Prison Industrial Complex" (PIC) is used to express the rapid expansion of the United States inmate population. The prison industrial complex (PIC) is an expression used to describe the connection between the interests of government and industry that use surveillance, policing, and imprisonment the resolution to economic, social and political problems. The P.I.C helps to maintain the authority of people who get their power through racial, economic, social and other privileges. Power is collected and maintained through the PIC in many ways, including creating mass media images that reinforce the stereotypes associated with people of color, less fortunate people, homosexual people, immigrants, youth, elderly and other oppressed communities. These stereotypes imply that those who are associated with these groups of society are criminals, corrupt, delinquent, deviant, etc. PIC abolition is a political vision with the goal

Those who are in a mental institution program should be taken seriously and not be treated as if they were invisible. People usually do not get the help they need because they do not know where to start and the job of the nurses and doctors are to take care of them. A mental illness does not go away on its own, it is something that the person has to work on even if it is a long process, the progress will be made. People are terrified of what will happen to them or what others think of them, which means everyone needs to make them feel comfortable or else their journey to getting the cure will not be overcomed. People cannot accept their serious illness, but doctors should be able to accept helping them out and supporting them.

The monitoring, prevention and treatment of mental disorders, as well as the promotion of good mental health, are part of the public health goals in prisons. According to World Health Organization (2017), even in resource-limited countries, measures can be taken to improve the mental health of prisoners and prison staffs, which can be adapted to the country’s cultural, social, political and economic environment (WHO, 2017). In the British prisons, some practices and policies have also been implemented, which reflect the positive impacts of prisoners’ mental health and wellbeing.

Mental health issues are on the rise, especially among the youth, 6 out of 10 young people do not receive mental health treatment for major depression. Currently over 40 million Americans are currently dealing with a mental health issue and 56 percent are not receiving proper treatment. (Mental Health America). The health care reform has reduced insurance premiums for adults who have a mental health condition, however premiums and copayments are still not affordable for everyone. With the rise of mental health issues, the funding for mental illness should also increase to meet the need. If additional funds were put into mental health care, no or low cost mental health care treatment and early detection could be offered to those who have a mental health condition; making sure those with a mental health condition can obtain proper treatment would lower the costs that Americans will pay in the long run, it would lower the incarceration rates and the number of families who are affected by mental illness would decrease.