Mentally Ill In Prison

In 2013, around 2,220,300 adults were imprisoned according to the US Bureau of Justice Statistics. The amount of prisoners continues to grow as the years come. As the numbers grow, the amount of mentally ill individuals instituted in prisons grows as well. As much as 50% of the US prison population is diagnosed with some sort of mental illness (Long). Though they might be difficult to handle, the courts must maintain a balance of keeping the mentally ill properly treated while also ensuring the public’s safety. According to the Federal Bureau of Justice Statistics, they are more than 1.2 million people with mental illness are incarcerated in jails and/ or prisoners. 1 in 20 individuals incarcerated in prisons/jails suffer from a mental disorder. Forty-eight percent of these individuals are incarcerated with drug related crimes. For the most part, the ill individual is not fully aware of the law thus them committing the crime. Many question why these mentally ill individuals are not sent to a psychiatric hospital instead of prison. In the United States, we hold more mentally ill individuals in prisons/jails than in state psychiatric hospital. Mentally ill individuals are three times more likely to end up in prison than in a mental facility. The reason more ill individuals are held in prisons instead of a hospital is because there is not
For the most part they do not receive proper treatment. Studies have stated, “a 2010 survey by Brant Fries that found 65% of the 618 inmates identified as having severe psychiatric symptoms did not receive mental health treatment in the year prior to the survey” (Long). To continue, Chrissie Long also stated, “Detention conditions in some prisons, which include solitary confinement and segregation, are known to worsen symptoms or cause psychotic episodes” (Long). This portrays the harm the housing of mentally ill individuals