Mental Health Care Issues In Prisons

How does addressing mental health care issues affect the U.S prison system? Many cultures have viewed mental illness as a form of religious punishment or demonic possession. In ancient Egyptian, Indian, Greek, and Roman writings, mental illness was categorized as a religious or personal problem. Over 150 years later, the mentally ill are again being herded into prison instead of being cared for by society. In many cases, offenders do not receive the appropriate treatment needed, because of the misconception that all people with mental disabilities are a danger to the public. When the mental state of prisoners is ignored, it is clear that health care is not one of the prison goals to change. There are so many missed opportunities to reform

About 16.9 percent of the adults who are imprisoned have a serious mental illness (Addressing Mental Illness In The Criminal Justice System 2009). The more inmates there are the, less attention each individual is given for their own personal health. In many cases, people become a greater threat to themselves than others when they are not receiving the the appropriate care. According to the American Psychiatric Association, individuals in prison have more severe types of mental illness, such as schizophrenia. About 3.9 percent of inmates are estimated to have this disorder. Schizophrenia is one of the biggest illness affecting the prison system today ‍‍‍‍but not to only one (Aufderheide 1). The American Psychiatric Association estimated in 2000 that one in five prisoners was mentally ill, with this disorder and were not given any treatment(Aufderheide 2). This is an ongoing issues that need to be resolved because without a solution the numbers of crimes are only going to increase and people will still be left untreated. The lack of motivation to reform prison systems are not only a disservice to offenders and their families; it is a threat to public safety. There are many possible effects of allowing these problems to remain unaddressed. The rates of mental issues is only increasing in state prisons, 73 percent of women and 55 of men have at least one mental health problem. The numbers are only going to grow larger and larger without a solution to this ongoing issue happening (James1). Due to the to the lack of widespread utilization of diversion programs such as mental health and drug courts at the front end of the criminal justice process, more people with disorders are entering prisons than ever before. A recent study by the U.S. Department of Justice found that more