Incarceration of The Mentally Ill Essay - 1771 Words

The United States criminal justice system has been continuously increasing incarceration among individuals who suffer from a sever mental illness. As of 2007 individuals with severe mental illness were over twice as likely to be found in prisons than in society (National Commission of Correctional Health Care, 2002, as cited in Litschge Vaughn, 2009). The offenses that lead to their commitment in a criminal facility, in the majority of cases, derive from symptoms of their mental illness instead of deviant behavior. Our criminal justice system is failing those who would benefit more from the care of a psychiatric rehabilitation facility or psychiatric hospital by placing them in correctional facilities or prisons. Definitions Mental†¦show more content†¦This makes them extremely difficult to treat. Theories of the incarceration of the mentally ill The Clinical specificity hypothesis states that â€Å"psycho-pathological profiles determine different types of psychosocial functioning and lead to particular interactions with the social environment, especially with health care services use† (Cà ´tà © G, Lesage A, Chawky N, et al., 1997, as sited in Dumais, Cà ´tà ©, and Lesage, 2010, p. 173). The legal status of and individual and whether they end up in a correctional facility or health care facility will determine what type of treatment they will receive. This reasoning can directly relate to individuals who suffer from mental illness and their interactions to the criminal justice system. The criminalization hypothesis implies that within the criminal justice system those who suffer from a serious mental illness are over represented because they are arrested and committed for actions caused by their untreated mental illness (Litschge Vaughn, 2009). This implies that the environmental obstacles faced by the mentally ill directly lead to their arrest. Prevalence and Demographics According to a 2006 Bureau of Justice Statistics report found that over half of the inmates in both prisons and in jails had a problem concerning their mental health (James Glaze, 2006). The estimates in this report were separated by federal prisons, which contained 45 percent of inmates suffering from mental illness, 56 percent in state prisons, andShow MoreRelatedJuvenile Incarceration : Mentally Ill Offenders1077 Words   |  5 PagesJuan Resendez Correctional Services 5th Block Rough Draft – Final Project 18 November 2015 Mentally Ill Offenders The United States has the highest rate of adult incarceration among the developed countries, with 2.2 million in jails and prisons. 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