Basically culture of prison is based on the concept of punishment, deprivation, control and protection, which conflicts with a mental health service emphasis on human welfare and care. The prison principle was developed to provide punishment that reduces or removes offenders from the society, practices prisoners maximum restraint over their day to day lives. Prison also attempts to rehabilitate, prevent them from offending again on release and help to be an important part of the community. Such a closely controlled and punitive prison environment frequently has harmful effects on prisoners’ psychological wellbeing, even though most of the coping mechanisms which is developed to overcome these effects (Gunn et al, 1978). However, it would be difficult to develop such coping mechanisms, if those prisoners already have psychological disorder or suffering from mental illness which results lack of mental strength. This depends on several factors, such as individual characteristics, the particular illness and psychological conditions, the length of punishment or sentence and the medical healthcare resources within the prison. In the year of 2002, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons (HMCIP) reported that 41% of captives in dispersal prisons should ideal be placed in secure mental hospitals or psychiatric wards due to the extent of their mental illness or psychological disorder (HMCIP 2002, p 57). Even in 1996 the Inspectorate encountered serious problems regarding the
This paper explores the topic of mental health within prisons and how it affects the inmates. The report of my findings were through research of twelve articles, two credible website sources, and a published textbook.
Individuals suffering from mental illnesses tend to fall victim to the criminal justice system due to their uncontrollable actions that result from their mental illness symptoms. Within the United States two to three hundred thousand people in prison suffer from mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, severe depression, and bipolar disorder. Sadly, the majority of prisons are deficient in providing the appropriate resources to treat these individuals; people with mental illnesses are too frequently socially mistreated, neglected, and misunderstood within the confines of a prison. Prisons are deficient in correctional staff trained to suit mentally ill inmates, in
The video focused on one prison in particular. In this prison, there is proper medication, psychiatrists, and nurses. The main issue with this is that most of the mentally ill inmates have never had that level of proper care, so the prison system is hard to leave. However, the prison system is not designed to provide mental health treatment. It is supposed to provide community safety and security. As the video progressed, it stated the routines of the staff that is employed within the prison. When acute care is required, the inmates are put into the infirmary where they can be given the attention they need. However, providing effective care in a prison is described to be quite difficult. Many mentally ill individuals become extremely depressed, hopeless, and suicidal. They may also result in self-harm acts, delusions, and hallucinations. The video stated that obtaining parole is quite difficult for mentally ill inmates. If they are lucky enough to be released, they are sent out with two weeks of medication. On the down side, most do not receive the services they require and that usually results in them committing another crime and ending back in jail or
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
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
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
’’Research has consistently shown that prisoners are more likely to suffer from psychiatric disorders than the general population (Fazel and Seewald, 2012). Moreover, prisoners display higher levels of psychological problems, such as distress and depressive feelings (Zamble and Porporino, 1990; Schneider et al., 2011). These high prevalence rates have stimulated a wide interest into possible
According to the prisons inspectorate, the ‘health’ of a prison should be measured according to safety, respect, purposeful activity and resettlement (HMCIP, 2013). Choose one of these factors, and using academic research to support your argument, discuss to what extent this represents a critical element of imprisonment in contemporary society.
Nevertheless, it is important to point out prisons conditions doses matter since it illustrates how Australian prison influence how the prisoners rehabilitated. For example, the prison studies report the statistics shows Australia Total prison population is approximately 35,804, which currently rank 47 in the world along with prison population rate of 151 reaching the rank of 97. (Prison studies 2014). From the result it shows how overpopulated Australia prison currently is and emphasis how important it is to build a better prisons conditions. For instance, overpopulation is a great example of how prisons conditions affect the prison system and prisoner’s mental health. Notably In the research by John Howard society (John Howard 1996), the
Mental illness is a problem that occurs in all nations around the world. This is even more true for the populations in correctional facilities for both men and women. The overwhelming number of persons in correctional facilities with health issues is caused by: the rational that people with mental health disorders are a threat to society; narrow mindedness and low tolerance for people who are different from us; no resources to acquire the proper care needed. These mental health problems may have occurred prior to incarceration, and may nurtured further by the stressful environment of prisons, or they may have also been caused by being incarcerated in the first place in addition to other prior issues. Correctional facilities is not the place for the mentally ill, instead they should be treated for there illnesses. The purpose of this paper is to depict both the problem of inmates with mental health disorders in correctional facilities and the challenges faced by correctional staff. Secondly, denote possible interventions (treatment) for inmates with mental health issues. Next, support this information with studies about mental health in correctional facilities. Lastly, offer reasons it is important to combat the problem of mental illness in correctional facilities in order to better serve their well being needs.
The processes by which justice is applied are determined largely by proposed punishment philosophies. These express various concerns and arguments regarding appropriate sentencing and treatment. The philosophy of rehabilitation dominates the proceedings of juvenile courts, and is heavily scrutinized at an adult level, or when the criminal behavior of juveniles continues to accelerate, but when successful is most beneficial for society. The appeals process advances the fair practice of law, helps ensure the rights of due process, and continues to clarify and define justice and the law.
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
Punishment is defined as “the infliction or imposition of a penalty as retribution for an offense” (“Punishment”). Some prominent theories of punishment include retribution, deterrence, rehabilitation, and the moral education theory. Although retribution, deterrence, and rehabilitation are all crucial components of punishment justification, independently the theories have weaknesses that avert the moral rationalization of punishment. I believe that Jean Hampton’s moral education theory is the best justification for punishment because it yields the most sympathetic and prudent reasons for punishment, while simultaneously showing that punishment cannot be justified by solely
While dedicated research on the subject of psychological damage as a result of imprisonment is surprisingly sparse there are a few articles that touch on the subject. Prison is a ripe case study for many Psychology scholars due to its inherently insular nature and varied subcultures. Researchers have noticed frightening trends among inmates such as increased aggression, impairment of executive functions, and increased development of psychosomatic disorders.
As school issues such as school refusal (Lock 1986) and ADHD/ADD (Conrad and Bergey 2014) began to be recognised as serious social issues, these socially undesired behaviours became regarded as medical conditions in which require helps from medical experts. Anthropologists provided critical views of contemporary medicine and scientific understanding of human conditions and struggles (Kleinman 1996, Lock 1993 and Rhodes 1996). Conrad and Schneither describe the medicalization of deviance as “deviant behaviours that were once defined as immoral, sinful, or criminal have been given medical meanings. Some say that rehabilitation has replaced punishment, but in many cases medical treatments have become a new form of punishment and social control” (1992, 1). Rhodes points out our attitude toward medicalization as “…the vulnerability of self, body, and society to illness engages us, to a greater or lesser extent depending on context and inclination, in the same problem faced by clinicians: the need to act, to provide useful understanding or in some other way to contribute to the alleviating suffering” (1996, 170). Medical labels for common anxiety among university students, therefore, are associated a concern that those abnormal psychological conditions lead to other social issues in Japanese society. Medicalization of hikikomori and NEET highlight and illustrate the process in which how clinical conceptions expand into everyday life and how Japanese society addresses social