Torrey, E.F., Zdanowicz, M.T., Kennard, A.D., Lamb, H.R., Eslinger, D.F., Biasotti, M.I., Fuller, D.A. (2014). The treatment of persons with mental illness in prisons and jails: A state survey. Arlington, VA: Treatment Advocacy Center.…
The elimination of state mental hospitals was not based on human need, but rather a political policy decision. The shortage of mental institutions creates a shift in the role of prison systems and presents several different issues for mentally ill inmates. The inmates are not medically treated in…
The book Solitary: The Inside Story of Supermax Isolation and How We Can Abolish It divides into three parts: “Harsh Prison Conditions,” “The Human Damage,” and “The Alternative to Solitary.” In the first section, Terry Allen Kupers, the author, explores the rises of supermax prisons, the normalization of long-term solitary confinement and throughout, he explores how isolation damages people’s psyches and about what race violence and gender has to do with supermax confinement. In the final section, Kupers requests for a rehabilitative attitude among all prison staff (as well as legislators and the public), a plan to keep individuals with severe mental illnesses out of jails and prisons and enhance methods of dealing with disturbed or disruptive prisoners. A few of Kupers’ recommendations include a massive reduction of the prison population, concurrent upgrading of mental health and…
The author then goes on to identify the causes of suicide in general and how they are applied in prison. He says that because so much of their time is spent idle, cramped up with other inmates, racial tensions, and the “fight or flight” response kicks in and it becomes too much for them. He evaluates the prisoner characteristics in order to determine likelihood of suicide. He talks a great deal about deprivation theory, stating that it predicts that prisons in which inmates experience a greater loss of freedom, have lesser controls of daily routines, and are denied access to rehabilitative programs will have a higher incidence of suicide.…
The United States prison system is notorious for the way it treats its inmates. There are so many theories, and facts to back up the claim that the prison system is not working the way it was intended to be, and it continues to be a growing issue that the government is not addressing. Further, within the already complicated prison system, there is another issue. Solitary confinement, which was originally supposed to be used as a short term punishment within prisons, or jails, has now become an integrated part of prison life (Edge, 2014). Solitary Nation, is 2014 documentary highlights the damages that solitary confinement is doing to people (Edge, 2014). Individuals whom have not shown any signs of degrading mental health come out of segregation, or as the inmates call it, “seg,” disturbed (Edge, 2014).…
This memorandum serves as a proposal and examination about a significant issue; that has influenced the United States prison system. Because criminal activities are at an incomparable high, an expansion inside the prison population has incurred, resulting in a financial burden within the system. According to a review directed by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), they anticipated by 2018, overcrowding would move to over 45% over the BOP's maximum capacity. In addition, the prison cannot keep up such influx making a consequential problem for prison guards and inmates. As communicated by James, the quantity of the detainees housed in state and government correctional facilities climbed faster than facility capacity expanded. The…
suicide in which he/she is given additional psychiatric attention, prohibits the establishment of prison gangs, and gives the prison officials the opportunity to use solitary confinement as a form of deterrence by intimidating inmates to change their disruptive behaviors. On the contrary, Mears notes several negative unanticipated effects of solitary confinement onto the inmates. The basic ideology is that the threat of solitary confinement will lessen an inmate’s disciplinary violations. However, while in confinement some inmates suffered from psychological aggravations and became increasingly violent and aggressive towards other inmates and the prison staff (Daniel Mears, 2006).…
The overall topic of my research paper is mental illness in jails. The population of individuals with a mental illness in jail with a mental illness is no small number by any means and the rate of individuals with a disability that are re-offenders is not compact either.…
The FBI has reviewed the local investigation, and local prosecutors have pledged to bring the case to a grand jury. About one thousand people die in American jails every year and about a third of those are by suicide (Kaste, 2015). The grim reality is that jails have high suicide rates — higher than prisons. Part of the reason, says corrections expert…
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 psychiatric treatment, the soon to be inmates would get arrested for things such as violent behavior, robbery, and rape. This behavior would cause them to go to jail, and after repeated offenses they end up falling into prison.…
In an overpopulated prison inmates obtain a higher level of stress and elevate blood pressure. This leads to physical and psychological impairment and in an increase in medical complaints. Errors in social judgmentsand interpersonal mistakes are made. The resources for prisoners deplete rapidly due to availability. The screenings for inmates are overlooked and the management for possible problematic prisoners is skipped causing an uneasy environment when mentally ill prisoners interact with the general population. Systems that grow at this lightening speed are at risk for losing their organizational stability and unable to maintain the grounds they guard with authority in place. There are a few simple solutions to help the population from increasing without costing the California taxpayers more money to build new construction prisons that appear to be…
We call America the land of the free truth is no one is free. The United States has had the highest incarceration rates compared to other countries all around the world. Many illegal activities and narcotics play a huge role to becoming incarcerated. We’re born into a violent society and have no other choice but to live with it. Crime, violence, drugs and poverty are around us on a daily basis and young children see these things and think it’s normal. By certain individuals acting in ways they shouldn’t in front of young children will cause problems for us in the future. This essay will include articles giving us facts and answers on our incarceration practices and what we do to our inmates on the inside. The “Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the law online” gives us insight on out mentally ill inmates and attempts to give us solutions when it comes to people who are mentally ill and aren’t completely there. Also an article written by Chettiar Inimai and their colleagues go in-depth on how New York City reduced mass incarceration hence the title of the article.…
Issues surrounding suicide of women in prison is suicide is more common and handled as though it is not a big deal. Prison systems feel as though they are not at fault, that they were merely doing their jobs and release unsympathetic messages. The author quotes, "Framingham's superintendent at the time, now Commissioner Kathleen Dennehy, was reported saying, "The reality is, people are going to die while in custody" (p188). That statement proves the people over the system does not care about these women they just want their checks. Women are not getting the proper treatment amongst entering prisons; they are noting some have mental illness history and are still housing them versus putting them in facilities or even after being placed into the…
Fees, race, work programs, laws, Juveniles, and justice are all components of what is known to America as the prison system. All of which contains both positive and negative aspect of the American penal system. When it comes to our prison system today there is an increased number of inmates. This is due to the prison industrial complex which is the rapid growth of prisoners in the United States of America due to pressure from private companies on political figures so companies can gain a profit. However when the American justice system was set up it was to show that there is a consequence for your actions and rehabilitate criminals so they can learn for their past actions. Therefore prison is initially meant to correct what society defines…
In conclusion, many problems stem from mental health illness when brought against the criminal justice system. Mental health illness can contribute to jail and prison overcrowding, high crime rates, drug addiction, and many other problems. After the wide deinstitutionalization of state hospitals, jails and prisons have seen an increase in the number and percentage of individuals with mental health and substance use. Furthermore,…