Course Video Critique 4: The New Asylums
Summary:
In the video, “The New Asylums,” explains the ever growing problem of mentally ill inmates are entering in prisons as the solution rather than mental hospitals. Prisons remain the only solution for the mentally ill due to the ability to keep them from harming the community or being involved in criminal activity. Unlike normal inmates, sometimes mentally ill inmates may refuse to cooperate with the prison officials and thus force may be required to put them into submission. For treatment, prisons provide therapy and medication to help their mental state, but if severe they may go to a psychiatric hospital to receive better treatment in a less intimidating environment. While mental illness often takes a long process, many of the inmates do look towards the future in terms of reintegrating with the community or fear of harming others.
Critique of the video: The New Asylums provides an informative and detailed experience regarding mentally ill inmates in order to get better in improving their behaviors. It emphasizes a lot about treatments and how effective they are, however I am most surprised on some occasions on the use of force to calm down the inmates. Overall the message of the video shows that prisons have become the only solution in treating the mental ill however this is
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According to Gideon and Sung (2011) explains, that therapeutic communities are usually the best in reducing recidivism rates (pg. 57). In the video, this can be applied where one instance a inmate is moved to a psychiatric hospital and has improved in mental health due to the less intimidating environment and a more sympathetic support rather than the harsher prison lifestyle. The way that these two different environments have shown that they are willing to provide specialized treatment in order to fix a stubborn
A common misconception that many people have about the United States prison system is that it acts as a sanctuary for rehabilitation, and it is this misconception that allows people to believe that mentally ill prisoners who are sent to prison will receive the treatment that they need. Not only does life in prison provide added stress and anxiety to the already burdensome life of living with a mental illness, but with so many inmates in such close quarters, said mentally ill patients often get harassed and are unlikely to get the amount of attention from doctors and specialists that they truly need. With such stated lack of necessary attention and treatment, mentally ill prisoners often develop more severe symptoms than those that they entered with. Therefore, the time, energy, and resources that funnel into caring for the 1.3 million inmates with mental illness who are currently in the United States prison system should be shifted to focus on medication and or rehabilitation in an appropriate
In the video, “The New Asylums”, it demonstrated how deinstitutionalization has left thousands of mentally ill patients in the hands of the prison system. As the mental health hospitals closed down, the police department and prison system has become responsible for the mentally ill people that are on the streets. There was a firm point made about the release of mentally ill patients- “When hundreds of thousands of mentally ill are released, they do not magically become healthy. They went to the streets, became homeless, and turned to a system that cannot say no.” The video also stated that today, there are nearly 500,000 mentally ill people being held in jails and prisons throughout the country. Furthermore, there was no safety net for those
In this article, the incarceration of the mentally ill is encouraged because it is safer than keeping them in mental institutions. It claims that mental institutions are extremely dangerous by their very nature and the nurses there are trained to treat the mentally ill, not to keep them from hurting themselves or other people. In prisons however, the
The documentary “The released” shared a very important and serious social issue, which is mental illness of prisoners. The film described the inside of the Ohio prison system as it resisted to provide care for prisoners that have mental health problems. The system there allowed prisoners to leave the jail and either go to a shelter or a residential treatment center, to get the health care they need. After the release, prisoners need to take their medications and keep track with a psychiatrist or a mental health care center. However, most of the prisoners didn’t do what is required, most of them didn’t keep up with their medications and end up by going back to jail. The reason of the release was to give them chance to recover by taking medications
I did not find that much crossing over between, “The New Asylums,” and the article by Dolch. The video talks about how mental hospitals are closing and putting unstable mentally ill patients on the streets. Then they act out in the “real world” and get thrown in jail or prison. The article talks about a case study, different types of mental illnesses, the medications, and how they affect men and women differently. I best crossover between the two is how they talk about hospitalization is only short term treatment. On page 24 of the article it says, “Hospitalization is mostly used in the short term, while medications are tried out and the patient is made safe and stabilized.” This connects to the video because they talk about how if a mentally ill inmate acts out, then he/she is put into the prison infirmary for only a short term just like being at a hospital. Once the inmate becomes stable, they are put back into the prison. Unfortunately, this does not work out well because the prisons are not equipped or
The deinstitutionalization of state mental hospitals has left many individuals untreated and in the community where there come under police scrutiny due to their odd behavior, that is a manifestation of their illness. Majority of mentally ill offenders have not committed a serious crime and are subjected to inappropriate arrest and incarceration (Soderstrom, 2008). This new policy has become quite a concern to the fact that the correctional environment has proven to show no positive results in the mental health of the offender during their time of incarceration or upon their release date and thereafter (Soderstrom, 2008).
Overall, Conditions in asylums today are drastically different than asylums in the 1800s due to the better understanding of mental illnesses. As time goes on and technology advances, society will continue to advance in it’s knowledge of mental
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
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
The inhumane conditions seen in state prisons today eerily mimic many of the same issues seen in state psychiatric institutions prior to the 1970s. These institutions sought to solve the problem off overcrowding by deeming many of them stable enough to leave, even though many of them were not. The patients were placed into group homes instead of hospitals. This caused an influx of people with mental health problems into a society where they could not function. Many of them inevitably ended up committing crimes, pushing them into the
The shutdown of state mental hospitals and lack of available financial and institutional resources force mentally ill people to the United States Judicial System for mental health. Every year thousands of people are arrested for various crimes and they are sent to jail. Sixteen percent of these people have some type of mental health problem (Public Broadcasting System , 2001). When we consider that the United States has the largest incarcerated population in the world at 2.2 million, this number is staggering (Anasseril E. Daniel, 2007). This is about 1% of the entire population of the United States. There are many reasons as to why the situation has taken such a bad turn and when the history of the treatment of mental illness is examined one can see how the situation developed into the inhumane disaster it is today.
The Frontline episode “The New Asylums”, dove into the crisis mentally ill inmates face in the psychiatric ward in Ohio state prisons. The episode shows us the conditions and every day lives of mentally ill patients in Ohio state prisons, and explains how these inmates got to this point. It appeared that most of these prisoners should have been patients in an institute of some sort, out in society, but unfortunately due to whatever circumstances they ended up in prison. According to the episode, most of the inmates end up in prison due to them not coping with the outside world on their own. Prior to becoming imprisoned, the inmates had difficulties dealing with the outside world. Mainly due to lack of necessary
The purpose of this film The New Asylums is to show the real deal of what mentally ill people have to go through for help. There are many cases that go through the system and don’t get released till many years later. The film shows homeless people getting in trouble on purpose
During the mid-1800’s the mentally ill were either homeless or locked in a cell under deplorable conditions. Introduction of asylums was a way to get the mentally ill better care and better- living conditions. Over a period of years, the admissions grew, but staff to take care of their needs did not. Asylums became overcrowded and treatments that were thought to cure, were basically medieval and unethical
Sandra’s statement in the video fits very well to the knowledge I have acquired in this course- Offender Rehabilitation (CRJS491). To a very large extent, it covers all the aspects I have learned and continues to prove every bit of it to be true as I listened to her. True to the knowledge I received from this course, that offenders treatment needs to be done by qualified professionals, who have the knowledge of different models that are fitting for different offenses, Sandra’s statement advocates for the necessity of exploring different aspects of offender rehabilitation for the treatment of an offenders in rehabilitation . Suggesting the needfulness of professionals to use, as many treatment resources as they can get, to help offenders-