Preview

The Role Of The Mentally Ill In Prisons

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
143 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Role Of The Mentally Ill In Prisons
About 100 years ago the mentally ill were removed from prisons and sent to psychiatric hospitals. Yes there were things wrong but, as usual, less and less money was spent on those hospitals until, a couple of decades back western countries decided to save money by closing most of them. The lie that was offered was that "the mentally ill will be better off in society where there will be better treatment and conditions". But that was found to be too expensive and guess what - large numbers of people suffering a mental illness are back in the prisons from whence they came. This fact was predicted and those who predicted it were pilloried, ostracized and the recipients of an enormous backlash from governments and the media while the land those
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Deinstitutionalization Of Mentally Ill Summary
    • 277 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Deinstitutionalization Of Mentally Ill Summary

    The article I chose to read on the deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill was entitled: “Victimization of the Mentally Ill: An Unintended Consequence of Deinstitutionalization”. According to this article, one issue the deinstitutionalization brought about that affected communities was the increased number of displaced, homeless, mentally ill patients. Because so many of these patients are left untreated, they are unable to cope in a normal society, often causing these deinstitutionalized patients to become part of the legal system. These misunderstood individuals often end up in the prison system, not receiving the assistance they require and eating up state funding.…

    • 277 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Frontline: New Asylum Analysis
    • 252 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Frontline: New Asylum Analysis

    Frontline: New Asylums addresses the lack of effective policies to facilitate treatment and rehabilitation for the mentally ill within the prison system. The social injustice theoretical perspective addresses the need for social benefits, resources and protection of the mentally ill within the criminal justice system. The perspective provides equal access of resources to all people and is based on human need rather than political or social power.…

    • 252 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Summary: The New Asylum
    • 355 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Summary: The New Asylum

    Watching the documentary, the New Asylum opened my eyes a lot. I have heard the saying, “prisons are the new asylum” plenty of times, but I did not believe it to be true until watching the documentary. Before watching it I always viewed the prison system as a very harsh and coercive place, but now I see how much it help people with mental illness. If it wasn’t for the prison system some people would not have a place for treatment. I believe if the government had better funding there would be less reoffender. I say this because once they reenter society they are not able to adapt to normal life activities. In the documentary, the prisoners would be returning back to prison within a month. If they had more steps once they are…

    • 355 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Crazy: a Father's Search Through America's Mental Healthy Madness - Annotated Bibliography
    • 863 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Crazy: a Father's Search Through America's Mental Healthy Madness - Annotated Bibliography

    In this article, the incarceration of the mentally ill is encouraged because it is safer than keeping them in mental institutions. It claims that mental institutions are extremely dangerous by their very nature and the nurses there are trained to treat the mentally ill, not to keep them from hurting themselves or other people. In prisons however, the guards are equipped with the experience of a 16 week training program and are able to handle any commotion that might be made without endangering the lives of the prisoners or the public. This viewpoint is contrary to that in Pete Earley’s book because it endorses the imprisonment of the mentally ill, while in contrast Earley strongly believes the mentally ill need treatment, not imprisonment.…

    • 863 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    CRMJ320 Prison The Modern Insane Asylum
    • 1190 Words
    • 5 Pages

    CRMJ320 Prison The Modern Insane Asylum

    The medieval times brought us men in shining armor and women captured by dragons for those knights to rescue. It also brought upon the dark ages which unfortunately risen the popularity of the lunatic (insane) asylums. In those days, people who were determined to be mentally ill were given a place to stay where they were treated for their illness. In todays’ society we have gone away from institutionalizing individuals because of mental illness and looked toward alternative ways of treatment most notably by prescribing psychiatric medication. This tactic was implemented to put the mentally ill back out onto the street and minimize the overcrowding that was happening in the institutions. Today most of the “asylums” have been shut down and for some reason most of the mentally ill are being housed in our state and federal prisons.…

    • 1190 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Cost Of Not Caring Analysis
    • 616 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Cost Of Not Caring Analysis

    This source begins by introducing the inequality and lack of funding in the mental health care system. The government acts as the source of the stigma in mental health, as certain laws prevent a parity of physical and and mental health. This tells the mentally ill that they are less deserving of a decent life than others. The article then continues to describe the struggle of finding mental health care in a discriminatory society. Often times, funding is so poor and services hard to come by that patients don’t get help until it’s too late. While the creators of these policies had the good intentions to reduce asylums…

    • 616 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Summary: The Importance Of Prisoners In Prisons
    • 1152 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Summary: The Importance Of Prisoners In Prisons

    Should prisoners serving life sentences for first degree murder be eligible for a parole hearing after 15 years? They shouldn’t. Criminals who hold life sentences for murder, rape, and kidnapping should stay in a jail cell. Without even the slightest chance of getting out. To many factors fall into play and the subject can only run deeper and deeper. These convicts were brutal in the outside world, and after taking their first step in a penitentiary it only gets worse. Their mental state crumbles, eventually leaving them hard wired to live in a dangerous environment. Being prosecuted for such terrible crimes, doesn’t happen just once for these people, and American citizens do not want these fist degree murderers set free in their communities.…

    • 1152 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Comparing The Interaction Between The Mentally Ill And The Criminal Justice System
    • 813 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Comparing The Interaction Between The Mentally Ill And The Criminal Justice System

    Perhaps the most complicated consequence of the interaction between the mentally ill and the criminal justice system is the reality of incarceration. Unfortunately, it is too often the case where a person with schizophrenia is convicted of a crime and incarcerated, but as a result of their mental illness negatively impacting their trial. This was the case of Theodore Kaczynski, a man diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and accused of sending bombs through the mail. Kaczynski “continued to tell the judge and his lawyers that he did not want to be labeled mentally ill” and thus his lawyer could not use a defense of mental illness (Reisner et al, 87). Subsequently, Kaczynski was sentenced to life without parole.…

    • 813 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Psychiatry and Deinstitutionalization
    • 2151 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Psychiatry and Deinstitutionalization

    There is an agreement that about 2.8% of the US adult population suffers from severe mental illness. The most severely disabled have been forgotten not only by society, but by most mental health advocates, policy experts and care providers. Deinstitutionalization is the name given to the policy of moving severely mentally ill patients out of large state institutions and then closing the institutions as a whole or partially. Deinstitutionalization is a multifunctional process to be viewed in a parallel way with the existing unmet socioeconomical needs of the persons to be discharged in the community and the development of a system of care alternatives (Mechanic 1990, Madianos 2002). The goal of deinstitutionalization is that people who suffer day to day with mental illness could lead a more normal life than living day to day in an institution. The movement was designed to avoid inadequate hospitals, promote socialization, and to reduce the cost of treatment. Many problems developed from this policy. The discharged individuals from public psychiatric hospitals were not ensured the medication and rehabilitation services necessary for them to live independently within the community. Many of the mentally ill patients were left homeless in the streets. Some of the discharged patients displayed unpredictable and violent behaviors and lacked direction within the community. A multitude of mentally ill patients ended up incarcerated or sent to emergency rooms. This placed a huge burden on the jail systems.…

    • 2151 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Mentally Ill Offenders In Prisons
    • 67 Words
    • 1 Page

    Mentally Ill Offenders In Prisons

    Mentally ill offenders are a growing population in the prison system and different actions are needed to treat, aid, and skillfully support these people. Today these offenders expenses in medical and special care escalate as well as people being trained to care for these individuals. Furthermore how do these offenders act inside the prisons once incarcerated and what characteristics are these offenders categorized…

    • 67 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The New Asylum
    • 1183 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The New Asylum

    The Frontline episode “The New Asylums”, dove into the crisis mentally ill inmates face in the psychiatric ward in Ohio state prisons. The episode shows us the conditions and every day lives of mentally ill patients in Ohio state prisons, and explains how these inmates got to this point. It appeared that most of these prisoners should have been patients in an institute of some sort, out in society, but unfortunately due to whatever circumstances they ended up in prison. According to the episode, most of the inmates end up in prison due to them not coping with the outside world on their own. Prior to becoming imprisoned, the inmates had difficulties dealing with the outside world. Mainly due to lack of necessary psychiatric treatment, the soon to be inmates would get arrested for things such as violent behavior, robbery, and rape. This behavior would cause them to go to jail, and after repeated offenses they end up falling into prison.…

    • 1183 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Recidivism In Prisons
    • 770 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Recidivism In Prisons

    The documentary, The Released, described the challenges those with mental illness face when they are released from prison. In most cases, the inmates were unable to break the cycle of recidivism. The high rate of recidivism within the mentally ill prison population is caused by different factors. One factor that contributes to the high rate is a lack of support, which as a result, may lead to an increased chance of a relapse. Also, the challenge of reintegrating back into the world can be even more difficult due to the person’s mental illness. Once the offenders are released, they face extra obstacles of trying to find a place to leave and a job. All of these factors, together, cause the high recidivism rate for mentally ill offenders.…

    • 770 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Mental Illnesses Are Better Than Prisons
    • 1480 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Mental Illnesses Are Better Than Prisons

    If mentally ill defendants were to go to jail, they will not be getting the genuine psychological aid they need for when they are released. Accordingly, no changes will be made to criminals’ mental thoughts and behaviors if they were just simply sent to prison because they will not receive the treatment required to improve. Plus, if mentally ill defendants are psychologically rehabilitated, as McClelland states, they can be retried and potentially imprisoned in a traditional…

    • 1480 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Mental Incarceration
    • 471 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Mental Incarceration

    Many people get incarcerated for many reasons, some may be for small incidents while others is for major ones. Few cases are not the person's fault, but it can't be the same for others. Some incarcerated people won't know they have a mental disability, because their families may not notice what is going on until it is too late and they become prisoners. There is a possibility it wasn’t their fault, but they wouldn’t know until they are in trial and start rotting in their cell instead of getting the help they deserve.…

    • 471 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Mentally Ill In Prison Analysis
    • 85 Words
    • 1 Page

    Mentally Ill In Prison Analysis

    In conclusion, inmates that, are suffering with a mental illness and or a drug addiction will have more difficulty in transiting into a new environment outside the prison walls. I my option, I think that society need to focus more on the early diagnosis and treatment of the mental illness, I hopes that it will lower the about of mentally ill in our prison system, and to have more easier access to treatment facilities for the mental ill that also, suffers with a drug addictions.…

    • 85 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More

Related Topics