Criminals Blamed Mental Illnesses Of Schizophrenia Essay

Mental Illness has been prevalent all throughout our history from Isaac Newton to Abraham Lincoln to Sylvia Plath and so on. These illnesses can be as minor as a slight bipolar disorder or as severe as schizophrenia. In recent years, mental illnesses are becoming more prevalent in our criminal justice systems than anywhere else. Mental illness is becoming an association with crime and based on the information that has been found, this paper will attempt to further define the problem of mental illness within our criminal justice system and offer alternatives or insights as to how to possibly help with this problem.

Mental health and the criminal justice system have long been intertwined. Analyzing and understanding the links between these two subjects demands for a person to go in to depth in the fields of criminology, sociology, psychology, and psychiatry, because there are many points of view on whether or not a person’s criminal behavior is due to their mental health. Some believe that an unstable mental state of mind can highly influence a person’s decision of committing criminal actions. Others believe that mental health and crime are not related and that linking them together is a form of discrimination because it insinuates that those in our society that suffer from poor mental health are most likely to become a criminal due to their

Throughout the many years, there have been many negative public perceptions of Schizophrenia, which is known by majority of the public as an indication of mental illness. This disorder is most of the time perceived by the public as caused by psychological factors. People with this mental illness are considered to be unpredictable and threatening (Angermeyer & Matschinger, 2003, p. 526). Most patients have a behavioural dysfunction. Victims, families and society carry a substantial burden due to this illness (Wood & Freedman, 2003).

In America today, mental illness as it relates to violence and crime is highly debated as to whether or not it plays a factor in crimes. Even though

Based on the assessment of MacPhail and Verdun-Jones (2013), people with different forms of mental conditions are highly over represented in the criminal justice system. The extent of over representation in the justice system is uncertain. However, its presence cannot be denied. The term mental illness or condition is used to refer to exclusively the serious psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia while at selected times it is used to refer to conditions listed on in the DSM-IV, which is the manual of mental disorders. Some of the more common conditions listed in the DSM include anti-social personality disorder as well as drug and substance abuse. Depending on the situation, the definition of mental illness applied will vary. Eighty percent to Ninety percent of criminal offenders have a diagnosis of mental disorder. To this end, it comes as no surprise that there is a high population of inmates with antisocial personality disorder in correctional facilities.

Mental illness affects one in four adults every year ("NAMI: National Alliance on Mental Illness | Mental Illnesses"). Mental illness effects thousands who may not even be aware of it. Many who are aware do not receive treatment until something bad happens in result of not receiving treatment. These illnesses affect all aspects of the person’s life. They often do things without the knowledge of what they are doing. Many people who do have these illness commit crimes without the knowledge of the fact that they are doing wrong. People often do not believe that having a mental illness gives people the right to commit a crime, and it doesn’t. It merely suggests that the person who committed said crime was not aware of their actions therefore

“Studies have found that dangerousness/crime is the most common theme of stories on mental illness,” said Cheryl K. Olson, co-director of the Center for Mental Health and Media at Massachusetts General Hospital Department of Psychiatry. But “research suggests that mentally ill people are more likely to be victims than perpetrators of violence.”

Over the years, a disorder known as Schizophrenia has affected many people across the globe. Before advances in the 20th century mental health movement occurred, many thought that the symptoms conveyed by an individual with the disorder were demonically possessed (Walker and Tessner 2008). Today, more and more people are being properly educated about this disorder and understand its effects on individuals, however, there are misguided and false perceptions about it, similar to those prior to the 20th century.

The purpose of this paper is to get a better understanding of mental illness and how it coincides with the criminal justice system. As we know, mental illness has been a huge issue in the criminal justice system, the issue has predominately been ignored with only attention being drawn to this problem when a high-profile case makes the news. Therein lies the problem, we have no idea how to solve the issue of the rampant mentally ill being repeat offenders in the criminal justice system, often solutions will be made to help correct the issue, but these “solutions” tend to be ineffective and only temporary. Furthermore, what can be said of the mentally ill being constantly in and out of the criminal justice system is that they don’t recognize themselves as being mentally ill and therefore tend to forgo taking their medications once they are released from prison, consequently this creates a never-ending cycle of release, committed crime while off meds, and

Psychiatric disorders, such as Schizophrenia, when left undiagnosed and untreated, can lead to criminal behavior. Schizophrenia is a chronic condition that severely affects the way people interpret reality. The inability to distinguish between what is real and what is unreal, places schizophrenics at risk of committing crimes. To elaborate, schizophrenic patients often experience symptoms that include delusions and hallucinations; simply put, altered realities. These symptoms make it difficult for patients to function or perform daily routines normally. Patients with the disease may experience hallucinations; they may believe in things that aren 't real, or become delusional; they may exhibit irrational or disordered thinking; and their

The human psyche is one of the most complicated things that exist, psychologists are still nowhere near understanding the complexity of the mind and the disorders that come with the uniqueness of the individual. Schizophrenia is one such disorder that begins to manifest in early adult hood. The disease is characterized by a disconnect from reality, which includes symptoms of hallucinatory affect. This leads to individuals being unable to adapt and cope with their environment which has socioeconomic effects on the individual such as homelessness. Suicide is also more prominent among the schizophrenic population with a rate of almost 5%. The mechanism behind it are just beginning to be unveiled through modern science which gives hope to individuals currently afflicted with this disorder.

Schizophrenia – a term that has many negative connotations. Many people consider those who suffer from schizophrenia to be “crazy” or “psychos”. Far beyond the thoughts regulating about schizophrenia, it is a very serious mental disorder that is often misunderstood. Schizophrenia is “a group of disorders characterized by severely impaired disintegration, affective disturbances, and social withdrawal,” (Sue, D., Sue, D.W., Sue, D., Sue, S., 2013, p. 348). Comparatively to the idea that people with schizophrenia have at least some control over their disorder, schizophrenia is extremely painful to endure, and it potentially only goes into partial remission with the help of medication.

People who develop schizophrenia become increasingly disengaged from society. They fail to function in the expected roles of student, worker, or spouse, and their families and communities grow intolerant of their deviant behavior. Acute episodes of

Mental illness and deviance fit together like a puzzle. Many times if someone commits a crime or does something so insanely crazy, people are quick to say “Well, they were mentally ill”. Although, that is not always the case, a lot of the time it is. If someone is an excessive drinker, people will label them mentally ill. They obviously must have something wrong with them if they just drink all the time. If someone commits a murder, they will be labeled mentally ill. If someone does drugs, robs a store, commits suicide, and so many more things – they will automatically be labeled as someone who is mentally ill. People will plead insanity so that they don’t get the death penalty in prison. Pretty much every time, if someone

Roy Blunt, American politician, once said, “People with mental health problems are almost never dangerous. In fact, they are more likely to be the victims than the perpetrators. At the same time, mental illness has been the common denominator in one act of mass violence after another.” There is a misconception that mental disorders such as dissociative identity disorder and schizophrenia are the same. Today’s society often see all mental disorders as one, however, they are very much different. If one was to say someone with multiple personalities is the same as someone who has hallucinations and/or has delusions, they are incorrect, which is why in specific cases such as schizophrenia, the legal term “not guilty due to mental disorder” should be valid.