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Mental health issues cause and effect essay
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The grim reality of supermax prison is that inmates are held in solitary confinement at least 23hrs a day. Over the past several years the number inmates in prison have increased significantly and there is a very huge problem especially with our mentally ill inmates. According to the NPR these kind of prison also has had a huge political implication and is said to be a human rights violation by one elected official. In 2012 there was a civil case filed on behalf of inmates due to the lack of care for the mentally ill inmates. There were concerns that the mentally ill inmates were not receiving adequate medication and there is a lack of rehabilitation treatment.
The inmates also reported instances of abuse, torture and cruelty towards them.
Solitary confinement has the ability to shatter even the healthiest mind when subjected to indefinite lockdown, yet the mentally ill, who are disproportionately represented in the overall prison population, make up the majority of inmates who are held in that indefinite lockdown. Within your average supermax prison in which all inmates are subjected to an elevated form of solitary confinement, inmates face a 23-hour lockdown, little to no form of mental or physical stimulation that is topped off with no human interaction beyond the occasional guard to inmate contact. It is no wonder ‘torture’ is often used synonymously to describe solitary confinement. For years, cases arguing against solitary confinement have contested against its inhumane
Mandatory minimums for controlled substances were first implemented in the 1980s as a countermeasure for the hysteria that surrounded drugs in the era (“A Brief History,” 2014). The common belief was that stiff penalties discouraged people from using drugs and enhanced public safety (“A Brief History,” 2014). That theory, however, was proven false and rather than less illegal drug activity, there are simply more people incarcerated. Studies show that over half of federal prisoners currently incarcerated are there on drug charges, a 116 percent percentage rise since 1970 (Miles, 2014). Mass incarceration is an ever growing issue in the United States and is the result of policies that support the large scale use of imprisonment on
Since the early 1800s, the United States has relied on a method of punishment barely known to any other country, solitary confinement (Cole). Despite this method once being thought of as the breakthrough in the prison system, history has proved differently. Solitary confinement was once used in a short period of time to fix a prisoners behavior, but is now used as a long term method that shows to prove absolutely nothing. Spending 22-24 hours a day in a small room containing practically nothing has proved to fix nothing in a person except further insanity. One cannot rid himself of insanity in a room that causes them to go insane. Solitary confinement is a flawed and unnecessary method of punishment that should be prohibited in the prison system.
In the 1970s, prison was a dangerous place. Prison violence and the high numbers of disruptive inmates led prison authorities to seek new ways to control prisoners. At first, prison staff sought to minimize contact with prisoners by keeping them in their cells for a majority of the day. As time went on, the prison authorities began to brainstorm the idea of having entire prisons dedicated to using these kind of procedures to control the most violent and disruptive inmates. By 1984, many states began construction on super-maximum prisons. In California, two supermax facilities were built by the state: Corcoran State Prison in 1988, and then Pelican Bay in 1989. The federal government soon followed suit and in 1994, the “first federal supermax opened, in Florence, Colorado.” It was not much longer before supermax prisons could be seen all over the country (Abramsky). In Wisconsin’s supermax facility, with similar conditions being found in a majority of supermaxes, there are “100-cell housing units” that are in groups of 25 cells. These cells all face a secured central area. Technology plays a major role in keeping the facility to the highest security standards. Every cell’s doors are controlled remotely and the cells include “video surveillance, motion detection and exterior lighting” (Berge). With these technological securities, there are also procedural precautions. Inmates are kept in their cells for 23 hours a day until their sentences are done. This is said to be for prisoner and staff safety, although some feel otherwise. In 2001, 600 inmates at Pelican Bay went on a hunger strike, demanding reform. Those on hunger strike believed that the isolation and deprivation they faced was against their Eighth Amendment rights. ...
In recent years, there has been controversy over mass incarceration rates within the United States. In the past, the imprisonment of criminals was seen as the most efficient way to protect citizens. However, as time has gone on, crime rates have continued to increase exponentially. Because of this, many people have begun to propose alternatives that will effectively prevent criminals from merely repeating their illegal actions. Some contend that diversion programs, such as rehabilitation treatment for drug offenders, is a more practical solution than placing mentally unstable individuals into prison. By helping unsteady criminals regain their health, society would see an exceptional reduction in the amount of crimes committed. Although some
...Mental Health Issues in Long-Term Solitary and "Supermax" Confinement. Crime and Delinquency, 49(124), 124-154. doi:10.1177/0011128702239239
The study continues on to explain further ramifications, such as, physical effects. This shows some of the devastating effects the practice of administrative segregation has on inmates’ mental and physical well-being. Often, it is the mentally ill that are unfairly subject to this practice. “Mentally ill inmates may find themselves inappropriately placed in administrative segregation because of a lack of other suitable placements, protective custody reasons, or disruptive behavior related to their mental illness.” (O 'Keefe 125). Instead of providing safety to inmates and staff as the prison system claims administrative segregation is for, its main objective is social isolation. Which is one of the harmful elements of AS that makes it torture. Additionally, an annual report from the Canadian Government’s Office of the Correctional Investigator’s states, “close to one-third of reported self-injury incidents occurred in (federal prisons) segregation units”. Therefore, one can infer that the negative effects of AS are contradictory to providing safety to inmates. UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Juan Mendéz proposed administrative segregation should be banned as the “isolation of inmates amounted to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment or – in more severe cases – to torture.” The ramifications of administrative segregation amount to what is defined as torture by lawyer and human rights Juan Mendéz. Administrative segregation is an unconstitutional treatment of inmates and does not constitute the values of our society, or the dignity and humanity of all people. Which is contradictory to rehabilitating a person to be physically, socially and mentally restored for reintroduction into society. Its use in Canada’s prison system is unjustified, unethical, and ultimately,
The documentary was filmed inside of Maine State Prison over the course of three years examining the use of solitary confinement and the needs to reduce the use of solitary confinement. Prisoners are usually placed in solitary for disciplinary reasons and under new reforms have the opportunity to meet with a review board to discuss what the inmate needs to improve to be released from solitary confinement, the review board also gives the inmate the chance to plea why they should be released. All the inmates’ interview when being placed into solitary confinement expected their mental state to deteriorate and with no surprise their mental states were severely compromised.
Thousands of people statewide are in prisons, all for different reasons. However, the amount of mental illness within prisons seems to go unaddressed and ignored throughout the country. This is a serious problem, and the therapy/rehabilitation that prison systems have do not always help those who are mentally ill. Prison involvement itself can contribute to increased suicide (Hills, Holly). One ‘therapy’ that has increased throughout the years has been the use of solitary confinement, which has many negative effects on the inmates. When an inmate has a current mental illness, prior to entering into the prison, and it goes undiagnosed and untreated, the illness can just be worsened and aggravated.
Super maximum prisons are made for “super criminals” that has to be cut off from the rest of the world. To name a few criminals that has been removed from the world is the “Unabomber” Ted Kaczynski and the Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. Some of these criminals in super max prisons are usually have long sentences or death sentences. On any given day, there are about 80,000 inmates that resides in Supermax institutions in the United States. In the 1980s there was a critical upping in prison violence, riots, and staff murdered by prisoners housed in supermax prisons. The government prison in Marion, Illinois, considered by numerous to be the main supermax prisons, experienced huge prisoner violence, which brought about the death of two prison guards in 1983. Originally, they were not 23 hours lock down prisons until the actions that took place during
The types of inmates that do not belong in supermax prisons are those who are already mentally ill or those who are at an unreasonably high risk of suffering serious mental illness in a supermax unit (Schmallegar & Smykla 2015). Also, juveniles and low-level offenders should not be placed in supermax prisons (Priyanka, 2017).
It hasn’t been fact whether it does effect the confined prisoners to have very limited human reaction or not. But the long term effects are theorized to have a stronger consequence and impact on the mental health. It also comes to question if it would effect a mentally-ill inmate more. Little to no study has been done to conclude that fact as of yet. It has been found that since the establishment of such facilities, the assaults from inmates to staff have reduced greatly. David Mere (2002) concluded “few studies document the extent to which the criteria states articulate for the placement and release of prisoners are followed. Even less is known about how long inmates stay on average in a supermax and how long they then are in traditional prisons before release to society. How many are released from a supermax straight into communities? What is the behavior of released supermax inmates upon reentry into other prisons or into society? What are the characteristics (e.g., age, sex, race/ethnicity, prior record and length-of-stay, behavior that led to supermax confinement) of inmates placed in supermax facilities and have these characteristics changed over time?” (p. 50-51). Mere has the correct input, it is near impossible to study these types of behaviors because of the boundaries of the situation. It is hard to say how long an inmate in a supermax prison is placed in there for, and many of the inmates
Are supermax prisons necessary in the United States or are they a violation of the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment? “Supermax” is the short term for “super-maximum security.” Supermax facilities are the highest security level in most correctional systems, and are typically designed to control the most violent and disruptive inmates. Supermax prisoners are locked into small concrete cells, without any personal contact and under constant video surveillance (Daly, William). Do we really need these supermax facilities to rehabilitate our most dangerous citizens? The important factor to analyze is if the psychological effects of solitary confinement –23hours per day— are counterproductive, especially when inmates
According to the World Health Organization (WHO) and widely viewed, health is a state of full physical, social, and mental well-being and cannot become restricted to the mere absence of disease. This widely excepted theory is what make health a foundational right all human beings, and one everyone should absolutely possess without limit. Accordingly, solitary confinement infringes on all of these health aspects. Mostly, it involves seclusion of an inmate from the rest for a minimum of 22 hours a day, for at least one day if deemed necessary (Shalev, 2012). This type of confinement has deleterious social, mental and physical health effects, particularly in youth, something that has been recorded by researchers and practitioners. Accordingly,
That is important because, without regular socialization, mental health could severely decline and inmates could lose that skill which is needed to be a part of normal society. Without this skill in the real world, released inmates may feel excluded from society, which could lead to future violent behaviors. The average cell size is ten feet by seven feet, as stated by Mr. Charles Samuels Jr. who is the director of the federal bureau of prisons. There’s not much room in solitary cells for them to do anything but lay down or sit down or walk four feet back and fourth across the room. While inmates do get about an hour a day of exercise time, the other 23 hours (Sullivan) of sitting around could lead to physical degeneration of the muscles. Samuels talks about restrictive housing when referring to solitary confinement. William Lutz, in his article, “The World of Doublespeak,” he describes euphemism as “an inoffensive or positive word or phrase designed to avoid a harsh, unpleasant, or distasteful reality (278). Calling solitary confinement by the term “restrictive housing” is a euphemism, an understatement, because the rooms where inmates are housed in solitary confinement are quite small, and when one hears the word “housing,” one usually pictures a house, which may make them feel like the “housing” is bigger than it is. The executive director of the Colorado department of corrections, Rick Raemisch, calls solitary confinement “administrative segregation,” in the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights. However, Raemisch believes that solitary confinement is “overused, misused, and abused,” and that there are too many people in “administrative segregation,” as he calls it. While Raemish doesn’t agree with the overuse of solitary confinement, the terminology both he and Samuels used softens the