Term Paper: Incarcerating Mentally Ill People
The extent of the incarceration of mentally ill people (MIP).
Statement of Problem
Statistical data regarding imprisoned MIP
The issue of the deinstitutionalization of MIP
Literature Review
Issued raised by the incarceration of MIP
Imprisonment exacerbate mental illness
The issue of the re-imprisonment of MIP
MIP are at risk of being victimized
Jails and courts become overburdened
This burden is excessive
Health care industry should help
Policemen experience difficulties working with MIP
The issue of ignorance of MIP
Recommended policy measures
Mental health communities and police should reconfigure
To create post-release programs for MIP
The case of Jewish Family Services
To initiate state programs for MIP
To redistribute power between police, doctors
To initiate intensive legal work
To invest in health care for MIP
To initiate state campaign of civic education
Creating museums and exhibits regarding MIP
Providing legal education regarding MIP
Conclusion
Reference
Abstract
Mentally ill persons (hereinafter - MIP) have always been the subject of professional attention of doctors, workers of law enforcement, and even priests. When both democratic, stable legal system and health care industry were absent, MIP were in focus of priests’ attention, who were sure that the devil possesses them. When health care industry began to develop, but the legal system remained weak and autocratic, MIP were expelled to doctors, who used such inhumane methods as a lobotomy. The current situation in the USA is that despite the fact that legal system and health care services are highly developed, criminal justice system and doctors cannot divide their authorities in relation to MIP. This causes incidental incarceration of MIP and therefore the deterioration of their mental health, excessive burden on jails, difficulties of police officers in performing their work and many other adverse outcomes. It would be solved when doctors, citizens, and workers in criminal justice system reconfigure and reconsider their paradigms.
Keywords: mentally ill people, incarceration, mental health, the legal system, police, criminal justice system, law enforcement.
Term Paper: Incarcerating Mentally Ill Persons
The Extent of the Incarceration of Mentally Ill people (MIP)
The number of mentally ill people has always been large, but mental diseases have being ignored or threatened incorrectly for a long time. Contemporary American health care industry has much better conditions for mentally ill individuals in comparison with the 20th century, but they still suffer from different issues like stigmatization, the danger of being incarcerated, and improper care. The incarcerating of mentally ill people is one of the main topics, which adversely affects the development of mental health care industry and human beings. Before observing how and why it affects, it is worthy to take some statistical data regarding this issue in the USA into account.
Statistical Data Regarding Imprisoned MIP
To begin with, approximately 14,8 American adults suffer from severe mental illness, and nearly 378,000 of incarcerated in the USA have such diseases (this numbers are given to the 2010 year but can be used as …
