Offenders In Prisons

Mentally ill offenders are frequently caught up in the criminal justice system. Prisons are not adequately equipped to care for mentally ill inmates, which can lead to an escalation of an inmate’s illness. Mentally ill inmates are a major problem in prisons because they require plenty of special needs. Most of the prisons do not encounter the medication needed for these offenders, so it is better for them to be taken care of at a mental hospital where they will be treated correctly. Incarcerating mentally ill offenders cause major problems in prisons. Taxpayer costs increased tremendously. Mentally ill inmates cost a lot more than non-mentally ill inmates. Prisons depend on the community for money to be able to maintain the inmates secure, but the community is wasting thousands of dollars and they cannot help treat the ill inmates the correct way. Now that mostly half of the prisons have mentally ill offenders they have made
budget cuts because the cost of medications has increased effectively. These offenders often spend much more time in jail because they find it hard to follow the rules, as they are sometimes charged with facility rule violations. Mentally ill inmates are then transferred to psychiatric hospitals. As overcrowding increases in hospitals they begin keeping the inmates in prisons longer than they should. Prisons are supposed to be for punishing any type of inmate, but mentally ill offenders that have gotten arrested should be sent to a mental hospital, they have all the medication needed for them. Offenders that stay in prisons have to be well taken care of because some of the inmates are considered dangerous. Usually when inmates return to the hospital they return in worse shape than when they first came in. That is because their disease worsens due to how they are treated in the prisons. Mentally ill offenders require much more supervision.
It is stressful for offenders with no special needs to be in a closed small space, so this means that offenders with special needs probably go psychotic when everything around them goes into a small cell. Jail officers have to be very patient when it comes to dealing with mentally ill inmates because they could do things that are unthinkable. Mentally ill offenders can be a danger to themselves and others if they don’t receive the attention that they need. Mentally ill offenders often attack correctional officers and other prisoners. These types of inmates are most likely to commit suicide. Officers have had plenty of problems with these uncontrollable inmates. Those inmates that are uncontrollable have been sent to segregated housing units. In those segregation units they have no interactions with anybody. Inmates that are sent there have either gone crazy or their illness got worse. Officers have talked to jury’s to provide them with health workers to help deal with these
offenders. The different types of conditions for these mentally ill offenders sometimes worsen while they are in compacted prisons. Solitary confinements increase their symptoms of mental illness. Mentally ill offenders face greater stress when they are behind bars because they are not capable of following strict schedules. If ill offenders ever start changing their attitude while they have been in prisons it is because prisons are a new place for them and they have to accommodate to the new changes in their prison cell life. Due to these special needs prison officials are not allowed to give medications involuntary, which can cause conflict within the prison. Correctional officers have to be very cautious with these types of offenders because they can do plenty of stuff you can never imagine. Correctional officers who handle ill offenders have to handle them from the prison since they are no allowed to leave the place. Being a correctional officer is probably one of the hardest jobs there is because you have to deal with different types of prisoners. We never know how dangerous they can be. They are capable of anything and everything. These problems need solutions and the solutions to these problems is making new prisons/jails, and mental hospitals. The need for these new sites are extremely important because the sites that are on now are getting overcrowded. It would take about five years to build these site, but they would be very useful in the future. Another way to help inmates is to get medical help to cure their sickness. Clinics have stated that diagnosed offenders are harder to treat because they abuse their problems. Clinics begin to make conversation with the ill clients to observe them. Many clients are referred to other special help because that certain specialist could not find the right treatment for him/her. They have been trying to get ill offenders out of jails and hospitals to help them live independently and slowly they have been improving their goals. Officials say that the plan that they are doing is very unnecessary, but it seems like a correct way to stop overcrowding and suicides in prisons or mental hospitals. It would be a useful solution for the offenders and for the officers that have to deal with these types of inmates daily. There is a solution to every problem so later on these government officials will find another easier way to keep ill offenders away from non-ill offenders and in a place where they will be treated the way they should.
Mentally ill inmates should be placed in mental hospitals instead of prisons. They are very difficult to be controlled, and they cause too much conflict between inmates. Therefore, ill offenders should be directed to a mental hospital where they obtain the right special treatment and care.