Research analysis provides a foundation for academic writing that ensures that the information that we process and use to formulate arguments are valid and reliable. The resources collated for this research analysis derived from a recent group assessment in an Abnormal Psychology course. The assessment required an oral presentation regarding the controversial topic of coercive treatment of the psychologically disordered. Two groups were allocated to debate the opposing standpoints to whether or not coercive treatment should be established into medical practice and legislature. The group in support of coercive treatment was given a starter reference to a legislative review by Ryan, Callaghan & Large (2012) whilst the opposing side was given a paper by Sjostrand & Helgesson (2008). Even though each group were only required to read their starter paper, both groups understood the implication to read and evaluate both papers to provide not only supporting arguments but also to refute any conflicting ones. Both studies were also highly central to their topic and were also valid as it was a peer-reviewed paper provided by the course coordinator. My group was assigned to debate against coercive treatment and was required to validate our argument through a number of studies. As a result, I was assigned to assess the role of society in determining whether or not coercive treatment should be enforced. My argument revolved around a triplet of rationales. Firstly, society should not treat the mentally ill because of the danger they pose – but rather their disorder. Subsequently, my second argument highlights that this group are part of a minute fraction of those who commit violent crimes – and if we are treating people for the danger... ... middle of paper ... ...my rationales credibility. My understanding of coercive treatment was minimal when I first begun research on this topic but was set on the importance of an individual’s rights over society’s paranoia for safety. However, as I began reading more into the topic, I also noticed that sometimes issues couldn’t just be black and white. Coercive treatment is sometimes necessary, but our legislation and our culture must change to ensure that it is not discriminatory towards the mentally ill patients and does not wrongfully coerce patients who have not committed any wrongdoing. My analysis of the resources has made me remember the inflexibility of legislation and our government resources that cannot cater to everyone in our society but has also led me to re-evaluate the validity of my sources so I can produce more vigorous, convincing and credible rhetoric’s in the future.
In the book Crazy in America by Mary Beth Pfeiffer, she illustrated examples of what people with mental illness endure every day in their encounters with the criminal justice system. Shayne Eggen, Peter Nadir, Alan Houseman and Joseph Maldonado are amongst those thousands or more people who are view as suspected when in reality they are psychotic who should be receiving medical assistance instead, of been thrown into prison. Their stories also show how our society has failed to provide some of its most vulnerable citizens and has allowed them to be treated as a criminals. All of these people shared a common similarity which is their experience they went through due to their illness.
In the book “The Mad Among Us-A History of the Care of American’s Mentally Ill,” the author Gerald Grob, tells a very detailed accounting of how our mental health system in the United States has struggled to understand and treat the mentally ill population. It covers the many different approaches that leaders in the field of mental health at the time used but reading it was like trying to read a food label. It is regurgitated in a manner that while all of the facts are there, it lacks any sense humanity. While this may be more of a comment on the author or the style of the author, it also is telling of the method in which much of the policy and practice has come to be. It is hard to put together without some sense of a story to support the action.
As time goes on, the law has put more emphasis on facility just like Bridgewater State Hospital in which many of the actions of the facility workers can face legal consequences such as facing prison time, fines, lawsuits, and etc. Society has a better understanding of why certain people act the way that they do and being more knowledgeable about psychology and mental diseases allows us to have a different approach when dealing with these topics or these individuals. In today’s era, there are many normal individuals who are willing to stand up for those who do not have a voice of their own. I believe that this change in one’s ability to stand up for another individual or group of individuals is what brought about change to the medical environment of those who are mentally
Welton, Nathan. “Mentally Ill Are More Likely To Be The Victims Of Violence.” The Tribune [California] 19 Mar. 2006: n. pag. NewsBank Special Reports. Web. 7 Apr. 2014.
Coercion can be defined as forcing someone to do something they do not want to do. In order to determine if coercion will be successful or not one has to look at four key principles: communication, capability, credibility and compliance or “target will.” While the peace settlements after World War I could have been considered coercive, they probably had very little chance of success based on these four stated principles. France communicated that it wanted unreasonable demands including unlimited reparations for the war. Without Great Britain and the United States, France had little capability in enforcing the settlements. In addition, it had little to no past reputation of being able to support its decision in upholding the settlements. Finally,
Torrey, E. F. (2008). The insanity offense: How Americas's failure to treat the seriously mentally ill endangers its citizens. New York, NY, USA: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
Prior to taking this course, I generally believed that people were rightly in prison due to their actions. Now, I have become aware of the discrepancies and flaws within the Criminal Justice system. One of the biggest discrepancies aside from the imprisonment rate between black and white men, is mental illness. Something I wished we covered more in class. The conversation about mental illness is one that we are just recently beginning to have. For quite a while, mental illness was not something people talked about publicly. This conversation has a shorter history in American prisons. Throughout the semester I have read articles regarding the Criminal Justice system and mental illness in the United States. Below I will attempt to describe how the Criminal Justice system fails when they are encountered by people with mental illnesses.
Markowitz, F. E. (2011). Mental illness, crime, and violence: Risk, context, and social control. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 36-44.
Evaluating and understanding research findings is a very important skill for professionals to acquire. It is necessary to thoroughly collect data, findings, and results of the experiments to produce accurate detailed accounts of the studies.
Critical to understanding the extent of the problem is a clear definition of mentally ill, “a person suffering from mental illness and, owing to that illness, there are reasonable grounds for believing that care, treatment or control of the person is necessary for the person’s own protection from serious harm, or for the protection of others from serious harm” [Mental Health Act 2007 (NSW)]. Noting that the statute specifies the ‘control’ of this group which adds to the notion that people with mental health problems are inherently more dangerous members of our society. Furthermore mental health problems within the prison system (inmate population) are estimated to be three to four times higher than in the general Australian popula...
An ongoing and growing controversy is that of the increasing number of mentally ill offenders incarcerated and released into the community. For the most part, these individuals tend to be among the main contributors of the most violent offenses. While some believe it is best to lock such individuals so that they do not commit any more crimes. Others believe that they too have rights and should also be eligible for early release prison. A common belief is that with mentally ill offenders put away, crime will reduce immensely. Although that may be the case, it is best to treat a mentally ill offender the same as that of an average offender, meaning that the prosecution and judicial process of such individuals must not differ from that of any
In the academic journal Loran Nordgren, PHD professor of Management and Organization at the University of Kellogg School of Management and Co-director of Human Ecology lab at Northwest, aims to advance, extend, and examine psychological theory through field research. Nordgren wrote the academic journal called "What Constitutes Torture?" where Loran informs psychologist about the four different experiments where professionals determined if specific types of interrogation tactics would be considered torture. The article analyzes the four different types of torture, solitary confinement, sleep deprivation, exposure to cold temperatures, and real versus simulated pain. The journal also illustrates the legal standards which help regulate specific
Silver, Eric. 2006. “Understanding the Relationship between Mental Disorder and Violence: The Need for a Criminological Perspective.” Law and Human Behavior 30(6):685-706.
Glied, S., & Frank, R. G. (2014). Mental Illness and Violence: Lessons From the Evidence.
Unnoticed and ignored, criminal offenders who suffer from mental illness are frequentlybeing placed in prisons.They are usually placed in these facilities with the idea that the individual, although mentally challenged, was sane enough to receivelawful punishment rather than the help they needed toward his or her disability that would have been granted at an institution. In these prisons, the mentally ill suffer from issues with population, treatment from others, and from the lack of proper medical care.