Mental Illness In Prison

People with a mental illness who are in a time of difficulty, often find themselves homeless, in mental health facilities, or confined in jails. According to a survey done by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, 79 percent of mentally ill inmates in local jails, 76 percent of mentally ill inmates in federal prison, and 81 percent of mentally ill inmates in state prison have prior convictions. That is compared to only 71 percent of other inmates in local jails, 61 percent of other inmates in federal prison,  and 79 percent of other inmates being in state prison. And dejectedly enough, most of these criminals are expected to be charged with another crime after being released. Because of this, in order to help prisoners with mental health problems receive treatment and services, the state legislator should work to bring San Diego´s program to Minnesota because in the long run, it will save taxpayers money, reduce crime rates, and cut back recidivism by half.

How does addressing mental health care issues affect the U.S prison system?Mental health cases still remains a challenge within the criminal justice system about 16.9 percent of the adults who are imprisoned have a serious mental illness. A lot of times, offenders do not receive the appropriate treatment needed, because of the misconception that all people with mental disabilities are a danger to the public. There are so many missed opportunities to reform the prison system because mental health care is not considered a necessary step in the process trying, convicting, rehabilitation of offenders.

The facts are the mentally ill in prisons today present a serious challenge to a staff who is trying to manage treatment concerns with concerns from the administrators and so far there has been no resolution to this growing problem. (Mental Illness, Human Rights, and US Prisons,

Overcrowding prison has become a huge problem within the United States, which lead to seeking in alternative options. Since there isn’t enough space or resources applicable to provide for all those who are diagnosed with mental issues, a shift to community supervision have taken place; probation and parole being the greatest form of supervision. The National Institute of Corrections continues to state how parole and probation are overrepresentation of those who are mentally ill, with rates two to four times greater than the general population. Even with this being true, the combination of the cost of imprisonment, treatment needs and

People with mental illnesses sometimes find themselves victims of abuse. The New York times discovered “Mentally ill inmates in prisons and jails across the United States are subjected to routine physical abuse by guards, including being doused with chemical sprays, shocked with electronic stun guns and strapped for hours to chairs or beds.” It goes against their human rights of knowing that they are not going to be injured or harmed. It was stated that the guards who were on duty never gave anybody any notice that this was going on because it was not mandatory to report everything that went on in the jail. Several stories from the prison were written and used in the Human Rights Watch Report. The New York Times also revealed “… detailed the case of Anthony McManus, who was arrested in Michigan for indecent exposure and starved to death in prison in 2005. At the time of his death at age 38, Mr. McManus weighed 75 pounds.” McManus had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. The prison lacked a psychiatry department and he was in contact with a psychologist. Their contact was limited because it was always being interrupted by the security guards. Any abuse can not be tolerated in any shape or

There is over 2 million inmates in the prison system in the United States and about 16 percent of them have mental health issues. Some of those mental health conditions is a barrier to the inmates of being self-sufficient. The U.S justice department did a study in 2006 and noted that about 30 percent of those inmates exhibit indications of a mental health diagnosis. In the United States it cost somewhere around 45,000 dollars to house inmates in prison. According to a Department of Justice study only 2,000 dollars of the 45,000 dollars goes for the care of the mentally ill inmates. This does not meet the needs of the inmates of their mental health diagnoses (Coakley, E.

The mentally ill is over-represented in the criminal justice system when compared with the larger United States population. People with mental illness are incarcerated approximately 8 times more frequently than they are admitted to state mental hospitals, and are incarcerated for significantly longer time than other inmates (Ascher-Svanum, Nyhuis, Faries, Ball, & Kinon, 2010). This has been linked to an increased danger to themselves, other inmates and persons employed in the prison system. Effectively identifying and properly treating these individuals is crucial in creating a safer and more effective prison system. Currently there are approximately three times as many mentally ill in the prison system than in our mental health

Mental illness is an extreme epidemic within forensic and correctional settings. The prisoner population is estimated to have around 1,231,475 inmates incarcerated in state prisons and 135,246 in federal prison (Diamond et al., 2001, pg. 21). Some research statistics claim that around 20% of state prisoners and 21% of jail inmates have a history of mental illness (Vogel, Stephens, and Siebels, 2014). This number only grows when observing juvenile offenders, with an astounding 70% of youthful offenders dealing with at least one mental health condition and 20% having severe mental health problems (Vogel, Stephens, and Siebels, 2014). A 2013 article states that almost half of the nation’s prisoner population has some form of mental illness (Deslich

We will examine the health care prisoners receive, specifically focusing on mental health and the differences that are found between genders and countries in regards to how the mentally ill are taken care of. The prison system in the United States is the largest in the world and mental illness is disproportionately represented within the system. Studies suggest that within the prison system half of the incarcerated individuals have a mental illness, compared to the 11% of the general population (Hoke,S). Mentally ill individuals often find themselves in poor circumstances such as substance abuse and unemployment which makes it easier to recidivate. Four out of every 10 inmates released from prison recidivate in 3 years (Hoke,

A significant issue facing corrections today are mentally ill prisoners (Dugger, 2016). Conditions may vary, but common mental illnesses include disorders that affect mood, thinking or behavior, as well as, depression, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder. According to the article, more than half of all inmates have some type of mental illness and since 1998 mental illness cases in prisons has increased over four times. In the past thirty years, those with a mental illness have been incarcerated more than ever (Daniel, 2007). A systematic review of 62 surveys of incarcerated people was conducted. The men that were in that group 3.7 percent had psychotic illness, 10 percent had major depression, 47 percent had an antisocial

There are a variety of different mental health problems within each prison in many states. Some mental health issues that are common are ADD/ADHD, Substance Abuse Disorders, Gender Identity Disorders, Bipolar Disorder, and Depression. “On any given day, between 2.3 and 3.9 percent of inmates in state prisons are diagnosed with schizophrenia or other psychotic disorder; between 13.1 and 18.6 percent have major depression; and between 2.1 and 4.3 percent suffer from bipolar disorder.” (Aufderheide, 2014) Other not so common disorders include Dyslexia, schizophrenia, and Personality Disorders. There are many consequences to not getting the proper diagnosis and medication for these disorders, and many a times it is the inmates that pay the price for improper care.

Since the 1970’s, severe mental illness has been increasingly linked to the criminal justice system (White et al., 2006). Recently, it was estimated that individuals with serious mental illness are 1.5 times likely to be incarcerated of their psychiatric disorders (Morgan et al., 2009). This statement is a long-lasting concern that individuals with serious mental illness represented disproportionately in the United States prisons. Local jails have replaced mental health facilities as primary providers of

Our prison system has been expanding and with that so has the amount of mentally ill prisoners we have. The US Department of Justice finds that 16% or 350,000 of people in prison are suffering from mental illness, and this number increases when we look at the juvenile custody. The amount of prisoners with HIV/AIDs, tuberculosis, and hepatitis is also raising because the chances of getting raped in prison are so high. (Webb

Each year approximately two million individuals with serious mental illness are booked into jails (National Alliance on Mental Illness, 2015). Majority of these inmates need instance from a professional caretaker or treatment center, rather than being considered “criminals” (Honberg, 2015). The correctional justice system plays an important role on mental health illness in today’s society.

The topic I chose to discuss for this assignment is mental health problems in the prison system. With the increase of imprisonments in the U.S., the amount of incarcerated persons suffering from a mental illness has surged as well. For instance, according to a 2006 study done by the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics, "More than half of all prison and jail inmates, including 56 percent of state prisoners, 45 percent of federal prisoners and 64 percent of local jail inmates, were found to have a mental health problem". However, this trend is a disturbing one on account that our prisons and jails have unfortunately developed into a primary form of “psychiatric care” for those afflicted with a mental illness. Which is certainly a component our prison facilities aren’t necessarily qualified to handle.