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Chapter 2: Mental Health Problems In Prison

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For this discussion I chose to focus on chapter 2: mental health problems in prison. I made this decision mainly because this is a topic that also influences inmates behavior on the outside, and significantly contributes to the choices they make which can inevitably land them behind bars. I also believe that mental illnesses can easily develop while an offender is serving time, even if they have no history of being affected. Mental illnesses involve trouble coping with highly stressful situations (very common in a jail or prison environment) and life in general. "Such difficulties often manifest themselves in terms of low self-esteem, self-neglect, alienation, and social isolation". While locked up, many people lose the motivation to carry on with day the day to day realities of being housed in a correctional facility. Since inmate violence is also such a common factor, many are deterred from socializing and will end up either keeping completely to themselves or, worse case scenario, request to be moved into protective custody. For those who choose the second option, they receive 23 hour a day lock down for there own protection. The main issue with circumstances such as this, is that more times than not the dangerous and violent inmates are left in general population, free to cause more harm, while those who genuinely need protection end up being punished. …show more content…

While this may stand true if we are comparing the population that suffers from a mental illness outside of prison to the number of inmates affected, I think it's safe to say that most people who have mental health problems in prison likely had significant difficulties prior to incarceration. With mental illness being so prominent within jails and prisons, it makes it easier to understand the lack of control that guards are sometimes faced

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