Rehabilitation In Prison

Research Question: Should mentally ill convicted offenders be incarcerated in jails and prisons or institutionalized in mental health treatment facilities? Incarceration of the mentally ill is a social problem because studies have shown that a significantly high percentage of individuals incarcerated in the United States have been diagnosed with a mental illness. A Stanford Law school study has shown that prisons and jails have become the new mental health care facilities. In their study, they highlighted the findings of the National Sheriff’s Association and Treatment Advocacy center, that ten times the amount of mental ill individuals are incarcerated rather than being treated in mental health facilities. The Stanford Law school
There are individuals who claim that mental illness is not an actual illness, rather a personal characteristic flaw and that those that claim to be mentally ill are simply weak individuals that cannot handle reality. However, research have shown that the causes of mental illness are environmental, psychological and biological. (WebMD) Due to the fact that there is a biological basis of mental illness it is simply not ethical or logical to blame mentally ill individuals for their disease. I believe participants with higher education level are more likely to indicate that mentally ill convicted offenders should be institutionalized rather than incarcerated. I believe that participants with a high education level are more likely than participants with a low education level to have been exposed to the knowledge of the biological basis of mental illness. Education often opens the eyes of individuals that are often blinded by the false stereotypes and stigmas attached to certain groups of individuals. Therefore, the higher the level of education completed the more likely the participants will be to indicate that mentally ill convicted offenders should be institutionalized rather than
I believe mass incarceration goes beyond sex and race and mental ill Americans need to be given the proper health care and treatment to function as productive members of society. This issue is not a direct result of private prisons however it does play a factor. Money is always a factor, as correctional programs for mentally ill and non-mentally ill offenders cost money, and now that prisoners located in private prisons have the ability to make money for the prison owners, we have a serious issue. In my opinion, our current criminal justice system is dysfunctional and in need of major reform. Mentally ill Americans are being oppressed and discriminated against, not allowing mentally ill offenders the opportunity to get the proper treatment they deserve is not