Mental Illness In Prison

As a whole, literature on the topic of mental illness in our country and specifically in our criminal justice system had a reoccurring theme. There are millions of individuals who suffer from mental illness but are improperly being handled through the criminal justice system. These individuals are deemed criminal just by their acts and their mental health state is not overly examine. Jails and prisons are being overcrowded. State prisons and jails are overpopulated anywhere from 15 to 32% (Spending Money in All the Wrong Places: Jails & Prisons).

Given the number of incarcerated inmates who suffer from some form of mental illness, there are growing concerns and questions in the medical field about treatment of the mentally ill in the prison system. When a person with a mental illness commits a crime or break the law, they are immediately taken to jail or sent off to prison instead of being evaluated and placed in a hospital or other mental health facility. “I have always wondered if the number of mentally ill inmates increased since deinstitutionalization” Since prison main focus is on the crimes inmates are incarcerated; the actual treatment needed for the mentally ill is secondary. Mentally ill prisoners on the surface may appear to be just difficult inmates depending on the

Around the 1970’s and 1980’s around the United States many mental hospitals were shut down. There were many reasons why they closed these Asylums was because money, and knowing that there was only about twenty county asylums were built around the country. The asylums also known as the Looney bin was established in Britain after passing in 1808 county asylum act. There were so many patients in these asylums around the world in 1955 about 558,239 severely mentally ill people in the United States were accounted for. Now in these times any mentally ill people don’t get help they just go straight to jail without proper diagnosis or treatment. People need to know these people need extreme care and treatment. Even regular people or considered the norm in today’s society eventually go crazy when they’re in prison too long. We have as much people that are mentally ill as regularly incarcerated. There is one prison in Houston Texas that does take care there mentally ill. We have about 2.2 million

Throughout the years, the United States criminal justice system has been constantly incarcerating individuals who endure from a severe mental illness. People who suffer from serious mental illness are doubtlessly to be discovered in prison. There is a significant amount of mentally ill offenders that are placed in the state and federal institutions. The mentally ill are overpopulating the prisons. The criminal justice system is a deficiency for those who can profit more from the help of mental health treatment center or psychiatric hospital by sending individuals to correctional facilities or prisons. Today’s jails and prisons are being labeled as the new mental health hospitals for the mentally ill offenders. Commonly in today’s society, it generally takes other individuals who are willing to educate and support the mentally ill person into becoming successful in life.

According to a 2006 Bureau of Justice Statistics report found that over half of the inmates in both prisons and in jails had a problem concerning their mental health (James & Glaze, 2006). The estimates in this report were separated by federal prisons, which contained 45 percent of inmates suffering from mental illness, 56 percent in state prisons, and

Skeem, Sara Manchak and Jillian K. Peterson (2011) compared males and females in jail who suffer from schizophrenia, major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder to the general U.S population. They found that males incarcerated in jail are three times more likely to suffer from schizophrenia, major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder than males in the general population and females incarcerated in jail are nearly twice as likely to suffer from schizophrenia, major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder as females in the general population. (Skeem, Manchak, Peterson, 2011) Amanda C. Pustilnik (2005) highlighted the findings that more mentally ill individuals are incarcerated in prisons and jails than being treated in mental health care facilities. “Annually, over 300,000 adults and children with mental illnesses many of whom have committed only a public order infraction or no offense at all-are confined in state and federal prisons, jails, and juvenile corrections facilities. A mere 60,000 people with such conditions are treated annually in medical facilities. Thus, for every one person treated in a hospital, about five people are treated, or merely confined, in penal facilities. Prisons have become the largest mental health facilities in the United States.” (Pustilnik, 2005: 226, 227,

Mental illness in America has become an increasingly popular topic of discussion. Rather than being placed in hospitals for treatment, mentally ill individuals are being placed into correctional facilities for their actions. Persons with serious mental illness (SMI) such as bi-polar disorder, severe depression, schizophrenia and etc. have trouble within society. Many lack income and stable living arrangements to be able to succeed in the community. Side effects of their illness can enable them to become a part of the criminal justice system.

Mental illness affects roughly 56 percent of state prison inmates and 64 percent of jail inmates. It is a disorder that interferes with mental cognition involving changed thinking, emotion, behavior, or a combination of both. Several things are thought to be correlated with mental illness among the incarcerated. Some examples include prior life stressors, gender differences, prison life environment, etc (Drapalski et al., 2009; Gosein, Stiffler, Frascoia, & Ford, 2015). In the present paper, the role mental illness plays in the life of incarcerated inmates is investigated. It is hypothesized that individuals diagnosed with a mental illness are more likely to be incarcerated than inmates without a mental

The issue chosen by the researchers, is a relevant issue facing the criminal justice system. The predominance of mental health problems among incarcerated persons in both prisons and jails present major problems for each component of the criminal justice system; law enforcement, courts, and corrections. The entire criminal justice system is negatively impacted and overburdened by untreated mental illness. According to Bureau of Justice Statistics, more than half of all prison and jail inmates have a mental health problem (James & Glaze, 2006).

Jails are a Danger to the Mentally Ill “When ‘I’ is replaced by ‘We’ even illness becomes wellness” -Unknown. There is a problem with the mentally ill being put in jail and the way they are treated in jail. Some people believe jail is a good place to hold the mentally ill because they are seen as a threat to society, but others believe they are getting the wrong treatment and jail is not a place for the mentally ill because it makes their illness worse and causes more problems. While some believe that the mental ill belong in jails, incarcerating these patients is determinantal to society because they are not receiving the proper treatment and the number of inmates is increasing. Without the proper treatment, a mentally ill inmate can become suicidal or threatening to other people.

A few solutions for the rising mentally ill inmates in prison is to : keep a working public mental health treatment system so that those that are mentally ill do not end up in prison or jail. Redo the mental illness treatment laws and practices in communities that will help eliminate obstacles to treatment for those people that are too ill to recognize they in face need help. This will help these individuals before they are so out of the normal that they commit acts that result in their arrest. Reform jail and prison treatment laws so inmates with mental illness can receive appropriate and necessary treatment just as inmates with medical conditions receive appropriate and necessary medical treatment. Implement and promote jail diversion programs

Next, Cunningham was diagnosed with "paranoid schizophrenia," "antisocial personality disorder", and "borderline intellectual function". Second, Shaifer "long ago diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Third, Pinson with a history of "epilepsy, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia". Fourth, Narducci Jr who was diagnosed with a "mood disorder" and a "mixed personality disorder.

Out of the 2 millions individuals in American prisons, mental disorder affects more than 200,000 prisoners, yet it is an issue that has been ignored by the federal government and the public. Little attention has been brought to the topic of prisons and its prisoner, until the past few years, with the release of the shows “Making of a Murderer” and “Orange Is the New Black”, which both focus on life behind bars. The media has started to cover many of the injustices that occur behind the prison walls. However, while the American public has become more aware of the cruelty prisoners, especially those with mental illness face there is still little being done. The treatment of mentally ill prisoners is inhumane and better programs should be put in place in prisons in order to improve their medical and mental treatment and protect them from further abuse.

In recent years, there seems to be more people with mental illnesses being housed in jails rather than in a facility where they can get special treatment that they may need. “Jail has been a dumping ground for those that are mentally ill for some time” (Lacey, 2016). It seems that those with mental illness commit minor crimes will end up being put in jail to only be rereleased where they will end up back in jail. It would be a wise decision to give them treatment for their mental illness rather than locking them up in a jail cell and throwing away the key. The police department in in Richmond is trying to find alternative ways to deal with people whom have a mental illness by “offering crisis intervention team training to find alternative ways

Insanity can provide accused criminals with a defense that will allow them to escape any prison sentences. Nevertheless it can provide mentally ill defendants with proper treatment in place of prison time. The way in which mentally ill offenders have been tried in the U.S. courts system is an ethical debate between those who believe mentally ill are not culpable and others who believe insanity does not excuse wrong doing. Often mentally ill will receive poor representation and compensation due to the idea that law professionals are not proficient in medicine. Attorneys must refer to medical text like the current version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), that defines mental disorders as an illness that significantly