Victimization : The Unjust Or Cruel Treatment Of An Individual Essay

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.

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 definition of “mental illness” has changed from diagnosis-focused to person-focused. Even though the meaning and the treatments have changed since the 60s, one thing hasn’t and that’s the stigma and discrimination against people with mental illness. People are afraid of what they don’t understand. Society stereotypes what mental illness is and how it works. When society hears of a mentally ill person they deem them violent and dangerous, this is usually when labels like “crazy” and “psycho path” come out. The Mental Health Foundation expressed,” The situation is exacerbated by the media. Media reports often link mental illness with violence, or portray people with mental health problems as dangerous, criminal, evil, or very disabled, and unable to live normal, fulfilled lives.” Because people would rather believe what they hear instead of investigating the facts they discriminate against mentally ill people. The consequences of this crime affect them in: finding work, healthy and lasting relationships, finding a decent home, and being included in mainstream

The Sage Dictionary of Criminology (2013) defines victimisation as “…a term originally used to designate an area of study concerned to address the relationship between the victim and offender.” It should be noted however that since the late 1970s, the term has

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..

For the purpose of this essay I will be considering Nils Christie’s (1986) concept of the ‘ideal victim’. In considering this concept, I will discuss what is meant by an ‘ideal victim’ and will also be focusing on the high profile Australian criminal case of Anita Cobby in Blacktown on 2nd of February 1986. Anita Cobby was only 26 years old when she was abducted, brutally raped and murdered by four ‘ideal offenders’. This essay will also consider, the ways in which the media and criminal justice system have constructed Anita Cobby as an ‘ideal victim’.

An unfortunate reality in today’s society is the gross overrepresentation of persons with mental illness in the criminal justice system. According to Teplin (1984), persons with mental illness have been found to be almost twice as likely as individuals without any known mental illness to be arrested for their behavior in similar situations. Furthermore, several other studies have even shown that roughly half of all persons with a mental illness have been arrested at least once in their lifetime (Solomon & Draine, 1995; Walsh & Bricourt, 2003). Although these statistics seem to further support the common belief among many citizens that mentally ill persons are dangerous criminals, research indicates that the mentally ill are more often arrested for nonviolent minor charges (Cuellar, Snowden, & Ewing, 2007). Not surprisingly, a considerable portion of individuals within the criminal justice population have a diagnosable mental illness. According to Ditton (1999), 7% of federal inmates, 16% of state inmates, and 16% of jail inmates have a mental illness. These percentages may be inflated because persons with mental illness tend to spend longer periods of time in custody than those without a mental illness. Perhaps the greatest indication of the brokenness of the system is the fact that there are more mentally ill persons in jails and prisons today than in public psychiatric hospitals (Lamb& Bachrach, 2001). In fact, according to the

The criminalization hypothesis implies that within the criminal justice system those who suffer from a serious mental illness are over represented because they are arrested and committed for actions caused by their untreated mental illness (Litschge &Vaughn, 2009). This implies that the environmental obstacles faced by the mentally ill directly lead to their arrest.

3.2.2 The compromising of the mentally ill perpetrators Health to themselves and the general community

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.

There are four types of hate crime offenders according to McDevitt and colleagues: thrill seeking, defensive, retaliatory, and mission. Thrill-seeking hate crime offenders are inspired by excitement and make up most of the cases in the study, representing 66% of the cases (Burgess, Regehr, & Roberts, 2013, p. 494). These offenders are typically subjugated by teenagers, who generally conduct their crimes when they are looking for fun and have spent time together drinking (Burgess, Regehr, & Roberts, 2013, p. 494). Thrill-seeking hate crime offenders tend to attack minority communities and normally use their hands or feet to go through with the attack (Burgess, Regehr, & Roberts, 2013, p. 494). Next, defensive hate crimes represent 25 % of hate crimes committed and are led by individuals who only see the world as being one way, nonetheless wanting to defend their neighborhood from anyone who would be considered an outsider (Burgess, Regehr, & Roberts, 2013, p.

The mentally ill is responsible for a portion of crimes committed with firearms, but it is debatable if we should hold them at the same standards of criminals. Gun control advocates state that people with mental illness are more likely are more likely to be victims of crimes rather than the perpetrators. “According to the National Institute of Mental Health, people with severe mental illness, like schizophrenia, are up to three times more likely to be violent, but ‘most people with [severe mental illness] are not violent and most violent acts are not committed by people with [severe mental illness.]’ On the whole, those with mental illness are responsible for only 5 percent of violent crimes. ‘People with mental illness are so much more likely to be victims of crimes than perpetrators that it's almost immeasurable,’ says Debbie Plotnick, the senior director of state policy at Mental Health America… According to one study, people with mental illness are 11 times more likely to be the victims of violence.” (Abby Rapport). This evidence shows that people who have mental illnesses are far more likely to be victims of crimes than the perpetrators by a large margin. Gun rights advocates believe that people use mental illness as an excuse to avoid intense prison time. “When defense mental health "experts" testify to a lack of a defendant's criminal intent, these "hired guns" are aiming to have the perpetrator confined to a psychiatric institution rather than a jail. In some cases, a murderer who is in prison for life without parole, as was the case early in 2008 for Maryland's Kevin Johns, can kill again with the hope of being found insane or not criminally responsible and, therefore, be taken out of horrible prison confines and placed in a different location for incarceration.

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

In recent years, there has been a higher prevalence of articles in the media in relation to mental illness and crime. This is due to a higher focus of research in the past half-century by criminal psychologists into the relationship between mental illness and violence. A conclusion has then come of this research that people with mental health problems are at increased risk of violent offending. This is determined through classification and misclassification of mental illness and clinical aspects of violence. However, there are also seen to be additional factors and trends that impact a person with mental illness’s likelihood of becoming a violent offender.