Incarcerating the Mentally Ill

Should mentally ill prisoners receive treatment while being incarcerated? “283,800 individuals with mental illnesses were confined in U.S. jails and prisons in 1998”, reported The Bureau of Justice Statistics. The Bureau also stated that 16% of inmates reported current mental health issues or overnight stays in mental hospitals. 14% of inmates had reported having mental health problems in the past. About 700,000 of the 10 million adults in jail currently have signs of a significant mental disorder. Many of these prisoners also suffered from substance abuse that was never treated. Many criminals who end up in prison are never examined for having mental health disorders. Because of this, these people cannot be provided with the treatment they need. Instead, they are just sent to prison. This is a problem that has been understated by many, and one that needs to be changed.

Having mentally ill prisoners presents a number of issues for our nation’s jails. Mentally ill prisoners tend to serve longer sentences than those who don’t have an illness, they are more likely to be victimized by other inmates, and they are more likely to be involved in violence while in jail. For those with a mental illness, prison is not a healthy environment for them to be in. It is necessary for mentally ill prisoners to be provided with the right treatment if they are to get better. Even when a prisoner has been diagnosed with mental health issues, they are unable to seek treatments (such as medicine) while incarcerated, making it even more impossible to care for these people correctly.

Some might argue that the mentally ill should be treated just like other criminals. However, research has proven that prisoners cannot improve their behavior in prison without also treating their mental condition. Another argument is that it is more costly to treat prisoners than to just send them to jail; especially since many believe that once they get out of jail, they will continue to commit crimes. Many don’t realize that these prisoners are continuing to commit crimes after jail time because they haven’t been treated properly. By having reassurance that criminals are receiving treatment, spending the money will help with re-incarceration rates.

Because jail officials are not trained to handle the thousands of mentally ill prisoners, they cannot supply them with the necessary help they need. As a solution to this issue, there needs to be a public mental health treatment system to keep mentally ill criminals out of jail. In order to achieve this solution, public officials need to do the following: reform mental illness treatment laws and practices, reform jail and prison treatment laws, implement and promote jail diversion programs, use court-ordered outpatient treatment, encourage cost studies, establish careful intake screening, institute mandatory release planning, and provide appropriate mental illness treatment.

In my opinion, mentally ill criminals should have a different option than just going to jail. They are unable to acquire the help they need if they are just sent to jail. Criminals should be evaluated to see if there is any special treatment needed for that individual prior to being sentenced to jail. Without this, mentally ill prisoners will be likely to continue their bad behaviors.

Sources:
-http://www.debate.org/opinions/should-mentally-ill-offenders-receive-treatment-instead-    of-jail-time
-http://tacreports.org/storage/documents/treatment-behind-bars/treatment-behind-bars.pdf
-http://www.coloradotech.edu/resources/blogs/june-2014/do-the-mentally-ill-belong-in-our-jails
-http://www.sentencingproject.org/doc/publications/sl_mentallyilloffenders.pdf
-http://www.jaapl.org/content/38/1/100.full