Mental Health Criminals in Texas
Brittany N. McDaniel
Mental Health Criminals in Texas
Colorado State University Global Campus
December 17, 2012
Mental Health Criminals in Texas
The United States has taken many strides to adequately defend and prosecute mentally ill offenders, but some still fall through the cracks of the legal system and do not get the help that they truly need. Mental illness is a serious medical dilemma with severe social implications. Individuals that are mentally ill and receive help for their illness can become functioning members of society and those that do not receive help often commit crimes either unknowingly or as a part of their mental disorder itself. Texas in general struggles to provide the help that mentally ill offenders seriously need. Some forms of mental illness are minor and some are severe, but either way treatment is necessary regardless of whether it is administered inside or outside of the criminal justice system. There are now far more persons with mental illness in our nation’s jails and prisons than in state mental hospitals. See Michael Winerip, Bedlam on the Streets, N.Y. TIMES MAGAZINE (May 23, 1999). A September 2006 Department of Justice report stated that as of mid-2005 “more than half of all prison and jail inmates had a mental health problem, including 705,600 inmates in State prisons, 78,800 in Federal prisons, and 479,900 in local jails.” Doris J. James and Lauren E. Glaze, Mental Health Problems of Prison and Jail Inmates, U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics (Sept. 2006).
“In Texas, one study revealed that 30% of state prison jail inmates are also logged in the state’s public mental health database, with approximately 10% of all inmates having a diagnosis of serious mental illness that would be considered in the “priority population” for receipt of public mental health services” (Shannon & Bensen, 2008).
There are more individuals incarcerated in Texas state prisons with
Mental Health Criminals in Texas
Colorado State University Global Campus
December 17, 2012
Mental Health Criminals in Texas
The United States has taken many strides to adequately defend and prosecute mentally ill offenders, but some still fall through the cracks of the legal system and do not get the help that they truly need. Mental illness is a serious medical dilemma with severe social implications. Individuals that are mentally ill and receive help for their illness can become functioning members of society and those that do not receive help often commit crimes either unknowingly or as a part of their mental disorder itself. Texas in general struggles to provide the help that mentally ill offenders seriously need. Some forms of mental illness are minor and some are severe, but either way treatment is necessary regardless of whether it is administered inside or outside of the criminal justice system. There are now far more persons with mental illness in our nation’s jails and prisons than in state mental hospitals. See Michael Winerip, Bedlam on the Streets, N.Y. TIMES MAGAZINE (May 23, 1999). A September 2006 Department of Justice report stated that as of mid-2005 “more than half of all prison and jail inmates had a mental health problem, including 705,600 inmates in State prisons, 78,800 in Federal prisons, and 479,900 in local jails.” Doris J. James and Lauren E. Glaze, Mental Health Problems of Prison and Jail Inmates, U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics (Sept. 2006).
“In Texas, one study revealed that 30% of state prison jail inmates are also logged in the state’s public mental health database, with approximately 10% of all inmates having a diagnosis of serious mental illness that would be considered in the “priority population” for receipt of public mental health services” (Shannon & Bensen, 2008).
There are more individuals incarcerated in Texas state prisons with
References: Cocozza, J., & Skowyra, K. (2000). Youth with Mental Health Disorders: Issues and Emerging Responses. Washington: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Journal. Cuellar, E., McReynolds, L., & Wasserman, G. (2006). A cure for crime: Can mental health treatment diversion reduce crime among youth? New York : Columbia University. Goode, E. (2011). Deviant Behavior. Saddle River: Pearson. Mayo Clinic Staff. (2012, August 10). Mental illness. Retrieved from Mayo Clinic: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/mental-illness/DS01104/DSECTION=treatments-and-drugs Mental Health America. (2012). Position Statement 56: Mental Health Treatment in Correctional Facilities. Retrieved December 2, 2012, from Mental Health America: http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/go/position-statements/56 Ogloff, J. R., Davis, M., Rivers, G., & Ross, S. (2006). The identification of mental disorders in the criminal justice system : report to the Criminology Research Council. Fairfield: Criminology Research Council Consultancy. Petersilia, J. (2001). When prisoners return to communities. Irvine: Administrative Office of the United States Courts. Shannon, B. D., & Bensen, D. H. (2008). Texas Criminal Procedure, and The Offender With Mental Illness. Austin: National Alliance on Mental Illness. Vandenburgh, H. (2004). Deviance The Essentials. Upper Saddle River: Pearson. Send