Crazy By Peter Earley: Theory Analysis

When it comes to mental illness, there is no denying that it is one of the most intractable problems in our day-to-day lives. About 500,000 mentally ill people are in jails or prisons in the United States, while 50,000 are treated in psychiatric hospitals. People often can’t help asking if jails or prisons are really the new asylums for those who are mentally ill? I used to think that it is hard to answer, but now I will not hesitate to say “No!” after watching the video “The New Asylums”.

The incarceration of those who are mentally ill is on the continual rise. Many states juggle with the decision of placing offenders in Mental Hospital or locating them in State Prisons. Latessa and Holsinger (2011) discuss two major reasons for the increase of those with mental illness within the prison system. First, many states have no longer allow for the insanity plea during criminal trials, thus those who suffer from mental illness are not required to receive mandatory mental treatment. This is due to the discomforting idea that criminal offenders should not be given the same living conditions as those whom are patients of mental wards. Secondly, longer sentences have created a surplus of mentally ill offenders needing treatment. Soderstrom (2007) added that the lack of mental health support systems in

Demain, Bill. "Ten Days in a Madhouse; The Woman Who Got Herself Committed." Mental Floss. N.p., 2 May 2011. Web. 15 Nov. 2016.​

Ashley Smith was diagnosed from an early age with behavioural problems. She was, in fact, a person with oppositional defiant disorder “ODD” since her behaviour was clear signs of this illness. She was eventually sent to correctional services for throwing crab apples at the postal worker. Not being treated properly led to the worsening of her condition and caused her to commit more small offences and face longer imprisonment time. Her symptoms were clear to any professional but not to the guards who saw her as a criminal.

A lack of infrastructure and monitoring in correctional institutions leaves the public unaware of the aforementioned human rights violation of individuals diagnosed with mental health disorders (Mfoafo-M’Carthy and Huls 2014). In the case of Ashley smith, she was often confined for long periods of time without appropriate cause and were then subjected to conditions that included violence, substandard nutrition and cleanliness, torment, unconsented medical treatment, loss of dignity, and sedation as a control method. In addition, her diagnosis of personality disorder was used against her because she did not conform to the dominant cultural, moral, and religious standards of society.

Lord, the author of “The Challenges of Mentally Ill Female Offenders in Prison.” Lord discusses the need for attention to be directed toward inmates suffering from mental illness. The journal notes that many reactive signs of some mental illness may include self-harm, rule breaking, and aggression, which can lead to segregation in prison rather than treatment for mental illness. Lord emphasizes the need for special settings or programs and treatment to accommodate the mentally ill (Lord, 2008).

The conditions of the prisons and asylums of the 1800’s were archaic even for that era but by today's standards are criminal in themselves. The march 26th, 1880 edition of The New York Times ran a story titled Out of an Insane Asylum, which described one patient's first hand treatment. According to the story that The New York Times ran this particular patient was beaten on several occasions seemingly at the whim of the people in charge (The New York

“A young African-American man shot and killed an Alabama police officer in 1981. He was examined in jail and found to be psychotic then and at the time of the killing. In 1982 the Alabama Lunacy Commission found him competent to stand trial, and he was sentenced to death. He was consistently described as psychotic in prison records; but another state forensic evaluation in 1988 again found him competent. After reviewing his records and examining him, I concluded that he had been psychotic when he killed the officer and was psychotic still. A federal appeals court judge ruled that the original trial had been unconstitutional because the defendant was not competent at the time. The prosecutor declined to retry him, and he was sent to a state mental hospital.”(Beck)

The ideological concept of an insanity defense, formerly termed “complete madness,” was originally incorporated into the English common-law jurisprudence system in the late thirteenth century of the United Kingdom as an affirmative defense for defendants under the yoke of criminal charges involving a heinous action which could involve the option of termination of a defendant’s life if adjudge guilty of such act (Hill). Through such incorporation of a legal defense, the institution of a new societal grouping known commonly as the “criminally insane” became expounded, as well as, the legal opportunity allowing for self-declaration of being “innocent by reason of mental illness or defect”(or, the insanity defense). Those criminally insane are a subset of the prison population who have been deemed to have committed their crimes under the influence of a mental disease/disorder, or who were not in a condition of intellect during the time of the crime to comprehend the illegality or immorality of their offense (Frontline). Only if the defendant has plead insanity before the court can they be considered a truly criminally insane inmate. There are manifold condemnations sustained by the judicial system ranging from guilty but insane to not guilty by reason of insanity, as well as the legal states of incompetency and diminished capacity. This distinction has become a substance of federal law, but as soon as a defendant is convicted, the treatment of the convicted individual is left

Ian Manuel was a thirteen year old boy when he and a couple older boys attempted to rob a house. When they entered the house, the homeowner, Debbie Baigre, was still inside. She resisted the robbery, and Ian shot her. Ian pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole in an adult prison. The prison staff put him in solitary confinement in fear that he would be sexually abused by the other prisoners because of his inability to defend himself. Ian spent eighteen years in solitary confinement, with little break from his cell that was “the size of a walk-in closet.” At this point, and perhaps prior, many people would lose all hope. Ian had no family nor friends to reach out to, but Ian had one last desperate attempt to change anything. With his monthly phone call, he reached out to Debbie Baigre, the woman he shot. He told her of his horrific experiences and asked her forgiveness. She was sympathetic to his story and even wanted to help him. She was interviewed and quoted

We have recently read a story written by Flannery O’Connor titled “A good man is hard to find.” The story was about a family who were on their way to Florida for vacation. On their way, they had an accident that caused their vehicle to tumble ten feet down a ditch. While they were waiting for help, a group of escaped convicts from a Federal Penitentiary witnessed the accident and approached the family. It is unknown to the readers whether or not the intention of these convicts for approaching the scene of the accident was to help the family. However, unbeknown to the readers that this encounter between the convicts and the family was the beginning of the family’s hapless and dreadful demise in the hands of these escaped convicts. As part of our reading, we also had prepare for a mock-trial that involves one of the escaped convicts, who also happened to be the apparent leader, named the Misfit. The purpose of the mock-trial was to prove whether or not the Misfit was guilty of killing the grandmother. I am part of the Misfit’s defense counsel, and we pleaded the insanity defense also known as the “not-guilty by reason of insanity” plea and we won the mock-trial. As much as I loved the idea that we won the mock-trial, it was not the verdict I was expecting. Now, was the Misfit truly suffering from a psychotic episode that he was not aware of what he was doing? Or was this a classic case that involves a psychopathic killer? To be honest, I believe it’s the latter. The

Without the proper care, and treatment, these inmates are starting brawls, and fights between youth, and adults. The juveniles are then faced with very dangerous physical situations where they are beaten, harassed, and abused for their age, and situation. Writer for New York Times, and human rights activist T.J Parsell sat down with a woman, and her son who was prosecuted into adult prison, later committing suicide due to his experience in the system. The son states, “At the time I was sent to prison, for robbing a Fotomat with a toy gun, I was still a boy — physically, cognitively, socially and emotionally — and ill-equipped to respond to the sexualized coercion of older, more experienced convicts. On my first day, I was drugged, gang raped and turned into sexual chattel.” (Parsell) Linda Bruntmyer son was abused, and traumatized from his first day in adult prison at the age of 17 by a group of men who all struggled with mental disability and received no help for their problem. In general, inmates that struggle with mental disabilities have a higher tendency to start dangerous situations between themselves, and inmates around

On Friday, March 3, 1843, the trial of The Queen v. Daniel McNaughton (West, Walk 12) began. The verdict of this trail changed the way the civilized world views the criminally insane. People who were criminally insane went from being viewed as evil and wild beasts to people who could not be held accountable for their actions at the time of the crime they committed. As time progressed, the insanity defense became an acceptable defense and rules were laid forth on how to declare people criminally insane.  In this essay I will give the events responsible for the McNaughton trial and explain how it’s proceedings and verdict helped set forth the ground rules for the

During your lifetime, chances are you’ve probably met someone who has been affected by schizophrenia in some way and you might not have even known. So what is Schizophrenia? Schizophrenia is a group of severe disorders involving major disturbances in perception, language, thought, emotion, and behavior. People with schizophrenia are able to control the disorder with medications and therapy and can even lead normal lives. Schizophrenia is not something everyone understands. This disorder is more than just hearing voices. To be able to fully understand schizophrenia you must know the symptoms, how it affects you biologically, psychologically, socially, and how to treat it.

As an esteemed psychologist analyzing this accused murderer, I have found a few key pieces of evidence that ultimately lead me to the decision that the murderer is in fact mad and I recommend psychological rehabilitation as well as jail sentence as a proper penalty for the crime committed. Although, he claims he can recount the night of the murder “healthily and calmly” it is not proof enough to disregard his insanity.