What Does Mental Illness Look Like?

Despite the fact that my parents have worked in the criminal justice system for many years, I have never given much thought to the treatment of prisoners. As we learned from the readings, the current state of the United States criminal justice system is imperfect to the point of cruelty to those involved in it. This is truer for individuals with a mental illness. Due to a lack of psychiatric facilities throughout Alabama and overcrowding of those that do exist, many criminal offenders with mental illnesses are sent to prisons instead. State prisons are currently overcrowded, leading to substandard conditions such in almost every aspect.

Everyday correctional officials work to deal with mental health inmates. Often hotly debated, many search for ways to work with this growing population. Glaze and Bonczar (2009) estimate around 2.3 million people are incarcerated within the US and of those, 20 percent suffer from some form of mental disorder. Even with such a high number, the rate of mental illnesses within the prison system is on the climb. Many of these inmates will remain incarcerated and receive little to no treatment for their mental issues. This essay, will look at the practices associated when dealing with mental illness and discuss the strategies on dealing with this growing issue.

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

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.

The United States criminal justice system has been continuously increasing incarceration among individuals who suffer from a sever mental illness. As of 2007 individuals with severe mental illness were over twice as likely to be found in prisons than in society (National Commission of Correctional Health Care, 2002, as cited in Litschge &Vaughn, 2009). The offenses that lead to their commitment in a criminal facility, in the majority of cases, derive from symptoms of their mental illness instead of deviant behavior. Our criminal justice system is failing those who would benefit more from the care of a psychiatric rehabilitation facility or psychiatric hospital by placing them in correctional facilities or prisons.

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

For instance not all people may not even be in their right state of mind; mens rea, when committing a crime. Some people can be mentally ill that they have no control over their actions. There are approximately 356,000 inmates with serious mental illness in jails and state prisons(Torrey EF, Zdanowicz MT, Kennard AD, par. 1). Of that 356,000 only a small percentage actually receive help that they need. At least 83% of jail inmates with a mental illness did not have access to needed treatment(NAMI, 5). This staggering number yet only proves that tougher sentencing will create more criminals. When a mentally ill person does not receive the adequate help they deserve it will just make their actions repetitive because they are not learning right from wrong. Detaining them in jails or prisons creates an environment much like an asylum, which can lead to more serious issues.

"Jails and prisons hold three times as many mentally ill people as mental health hospitals" (“Mentally Ill Prisoners”). This horrifying statistic directly reflects the mistreatment and inequity faced by the mentally ill in society, and speaks on behalf of the “356,000 inmates with serious mental illness in jails and state prisons” in the United States (How Many Individuals). Mentally ill inmates are not only often unfairly sentenced for non-violent crimes, but they are commonly mistreated by prison staff, deprived of proper treatment for their illnesses, and ultimately their stay only worsens their condition, leading to their speedy return to the system upon the expiration of their sentences. The sheer number of people with mental illnesses

The problem not only lies with the mentally ill, but people already in incarceration. Doris James presents the recurring theme of insanity stating that “At midyear 2005 more than half of all prison and jail inmates had a mental health problem” (James 1). The answer for lawlessness does not begin with a cold, empty cell. Rather, governmental entities can begin with the realization that atrocity will continue unless inmates have the advantage of mental health treatment. A therapeutic system should be installed for the sake of the inmates that were not labeled “crazy.” The answer is not to train “hundreds of cops and sheriff’s deputies … which could more efficiently deploy police officers and others whose time is now too often monopolized tending to crisis for which they lack adequate training” (McKenna 2). Excuse me? That is why Freud invented psychology: to have psychologists. If police officers wanted to teach psychology to people, they would become psychologist on their

Reid (2008) notes that the mentally challenged present a serious challenge to our prison systems. He reports that over 50 percent of all inmates have mental health problems, with a high percentage of both jail and prison inmates meeting the criteria for psychotic disorders. Society does not know how to

For this discussion I chose to focus on chapter 2: mental health problems in prison. I made this decision mainly because this is a topic that also influences inmates behavior on the outside, and significantly contributes to the choices they make which can inevitably land them behind bars. I also believe that mental illnesses can easily develop while an offender is serving time, even if they have no history of being affected. Mental illnesses involve trouble coping with highly stressful situations (very common in a jail or prison environment) and life in general. "Such difficulties often manifest themselves in terms of low self-esteem, self-neglect, alienation, and social isolation".

During the 1970’s a conclusion was completed to close down all state ran mental institutions which resulted in numerous individuals with psychological illnesses finding themselves in a prison correctional facility. The inmates dealing with a psychological sickness found themselves aggravated and the situations were intensified by their being isolated and given only minimal sunlight. DeMoss states that together law enforcement officers and prison safeguards are given minimal preparation in concerns to physical interactions with mental health individuals as well as minimal training on how to manage an individual with a mental illness. Programs must be implemented to gain greater awareness and sympathy. At utmost importance executed plans need to be thought out on how to approach and manage someone in a correctional facility who has a mental illness. Within the article it reads about how inmates who enter the system with a psychological illness more often or released from prison with an illness that has been worsened. The shortage of treatment for mental health inmates is a great cause for concern within the correctional facilities. DeMoss comes to the conclusion that it would be best to give back the accountability for the supervision of mental health individuals to the

The target of this research paper was to investigate the subject of mental health care in correctional facilities. The majority of the inmates in correctional facilities have a mental health disorder and being confined to a prison or jail, presents challenges to these individuals. Treatment of mental health disorders can be challenging as there are numerous elements to cogitate when choosing the proper way to treat those individuals with a mental illness. A literature review was organized to show a synopsis of the prevalence of mental health disorders among incarcerated individuals, psychosomatic effects of imprisonment, treatment for the mentally ill, issues with mental health treatment, and better health care in correctional facilities.

The concern among the psychological and sociological groups that there is a high number of prison inmates the suffer from mental illness, and that the current facilities that house these individuals are far from adequate in treatment, housing, and managing these individuals (Holton, 2003). These are acceptable concerns although there is no real answer to lowering the recidivism rates of persons that suffer from mental illness except from warehousing these people with little to no treatment, however this does not mean that there is not an effort to elevate these issues even though from the outside it appears only for show.

The mentally ill is over-represented in the criminal justice system when compared with the larger United States population. People with mental illness are incarcerated approximately 8 times more frequently than they are admitted to state mental hospitals, and are incarcerated for significantly longer time than other inmates (Ascher-Svanum, Nyhuis, Faries, Ball, & Kinon, 2010). This has been linked to an increased danger to themselves, other inmates and persons employed in the prison system. Effectively identifying and properly treating these individuals is crucial in creating a safer and more effective prison system. Currently there are approximately three times as many mentally ill in the prison system than in our mental health