Mentally Ill And Violent Crimes

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.

Due to the complexity of the human brain there is an extreme difficulty in being able to scientifically discover all the facts about these disablements. The Atlantic interviewed Dr. Christine Montross, a psychiatrist at Butler Hospital in Providence, Rhode Island about defining Mental Illness. To summarize the interview the conclusion that Montross came too is that mental ailments are extremely delicate issues, there is difficulty in separating an actual problem from something such as temporary depression caused by the human condition. This difficulty in diagnosing creates confusion on treatment and the next steps required to prevent the patient from making poor choices. Due to this very troubling diagnosis many patients end up without care, or given substance to combat their mental state (Resse). A study conducted by Harvard medical school shows that people with ailments such as schizophrenia are over 50% more likely to commit a dangerous crime when addicted to a substance such as those prescribed to combat a vast majority of mental ailments (Harvard Medical School). The vast majority of those with these problems however do not seek help and are left to deal with their problems themselves, never seeking expert attention or help. These individuals that are more likely to commit crimes and specifically homicide most commonly have schizophrenia, psychopathy, brain damage, or

The purpose of this research paper is to analyze the relation between gun violence and mental disorders and/or diseases. Within we will find if the violence in society is truly an issue, or if the real issue is the mental health and sanity of our society.

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

The recent increase in emergency 9-1-1 calls involving mentally ill persons has heightened the awareness of the Criminal Justice System. Across the nation, law enforcement encounters with mentally ill persons have become more frequent, and the use of deadly force against mentally ill persons has increased. Since the deinstitutionalization of the mental health system, law enforcement officials have been tasked with controlling deviant and sometimes criminal behavior of persons who suffer from mental illness. As a result, law enforcement agencies have implemented crisis intervention training (CIT) and diversion tactics due to the numerous challenges faced when serving the mentally ill. Major deficiencies in the mental health system and State legislations have hindered progressive efforts towards assisting mentally ill persons. With the dramatic consequences associated with untreated mental illness, it is certain that law enforcement officers will experience an encounter requiring knowledge, specialized training, and the ability to build collaborative partnerships.

This essay will look at the public understanding of the nature of mental disorder and to what extent it is associated with dangerousness and violence. The essay will begin by exploring the public’s perspectives and opinions on the matter and the impact that the mentally ill have on crime rates. Specific social perspectives will also be explored..

In addition to any potential financial stressors an individual may be experiencing that could trigger a violent episode, there may be a mental illness that makes the bad situation worse. Conditions such as, anti-social personality disorder, depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder are just a few illnesses that can make a potentially violent situation go from bad to worse. The negative effects of an individual’s illness make can make a person think that whatever problem they are having that is making them angry, is worse than it really is, potentially making their violent outburst worse. The stress this puts on the victim has a high probability of passing on an emotional disorder to them on top of the abuse they are enduring. (Blasco-Ros, Concepcion, Sanchez-Lorente, & Martinez, 2010)

Another theme which ties a link between mental illness and crime is vulnerability. After speaking with a few officers, vulnerability and low state of mind was an occurring issue which influenced people to commit crimes. Sgt Haworth went on to describe his own interpretation of what mental illness is through his own experiences.

A small group of people with mental illness (those with severe and untreated symptoms of schizophrenia with Psychosis, major depression or bi-polar mood disorder) may have an increased rate of violence. In this group, Individuals who are suffering from psychotic symptoms that cause them to feel threatened or manipulated by Outside forces have a greater tendency towards violent behaviour. In spite of this, with early assessment and Appropriate treatment, individuals with severe illness are no more dangerous than the general population. Community treatment programs have also been found to be helpful in the management of behaviours that lead to crime.

Historically, society has believed that people with mental disorders tend to be more violent than normal people, creating a stigma for patients. They thought that a mentally ill person tends to cause harm and chaos which was difficult for this person to deal with. In fact, research suggests that public opinions on the relationship between mental illness and violence do not reflect reality, although some people with psychiatric disorders commit violent crimes, it was not really clear about how much mental illness or substance abuse affect violent behaviour. Media had a great effect on people by making them think that the mentally ill are violent which was proved to be a myth, as they are more likely to be victims than offenders.

Mental illness. It can sometimes be worse in certain people than others, and it also depends on how a person grows up. Many people believe that children and/or adults who have mental illnesses will end up a criminal. This isnt always true. If someone with a mental or emotional illness goes into a hospital and gets help many times they wont be cured but they will learn certain things to do to help them calm themselves down. In other cases this isn't as true. Someone people have a worse illness than others and at this point they may in fact become a criminal. This is what we have found out about mental and emotional illnesses having to do with school violence.

Over the past few decades, many researches have strived to test and explain the correlation between violence and crime and mental illness. Moore and Hiday (2006) assert that up 22% of inmates has a mental illness, sometimes containing more mental illness patients than many psychiatric units. Due to these statistics it is evident how important it is to understand the causes of the correlations between crime and violence and mental disorders. This proposal wishes to explain and understand the possible correlation and the reasons for such correlation between mental health illnesses and violence and crime. Further research to test

There are many factors that can lead to a criminal act being performed. For one, mental illness can have a significant impact on the cognitive function of a person, and can lead to impulsive behaviors and “episodes” where a person is not aware of what they are doing. These “episodes” are most likely to be dissociation, which is a common experience among those who have mental illnesses, and is where, in layman’s terms, a person feels as if they are not real, or as if they are standing outside their own body, witnessing from an outside point of view with no control over their own actions. Usually, this is in response to a traumatic experience where, if a person were to be “in” their own body, they would not be able to handle the situation and their mental state would suffer. Also, when looking back on an event that may have been tremendously upsetting, a person may experience no emotions in response, even if they knew for sure it was a traumatic experience. Overall, the person in question is not in a “right” state of mind. (“Dissociation FAQs”)

The relationship between those who suffer from personality disorders and violent criminal activity are recurrent. For years

As mentioned by Howitt (2015), a mental illness can be defined as ‘a variety of psychological conditions in which there is a characteristic disabling and distressing impairment in some aspect of the psychological functioning of the individual.’ However, not all mental illnesses are found to be at risk of violent offending. Such illnesses as anxiety and depression are found to be less violent than mental health problems such as bipolar and schizophrenia, both of which will be included in the subset of mental health problems recognised as violent for the purpose of this essay. The relationship that has been identified between mental illness and crime has the ability to be misconceived through misclassification of violent mentally ill offenders and a variety of factors which have the ability to cloud the evidence of the