Mental Illness Offenders

Mental illness is a disorder not an abuse. In the criminal justice system offenders with mental illness are identified during the arrest and or in the process of jail booking. According to Alarid (2015), “For example, a jail diversion coordinator receives an instant message when a client with certain criteria is booked in jail. Within 24 hours, the diversion coordinator notifies the courts that an eligible diversion case should be considered” (p.145). Offenders that are considered to have certain criteria according to Alarid (2015), offenders are processed through mental health screening or assessment and refer to the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders as a guide to evaluate the daily functioning, anxiety, bipolar disorder,

Mental disorders are usually associated with significant distress or disability in social, occupational, or other important activities. An expectable or culturally approved response to a common stressor or loss, such as the death of a loved one, is not a mental disorder (p.3). This definition fits the category of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder. People with mental illness are managed and treated in the criminal justice system accordingly to the degree of their mental

There are severe and some severely mentally ill people that are not dangerous or violent, however these offenders need to be in one of the following treatments: going to a psychiatrist, becoming stabilized on medication, and meeting their basic necessities such as food, safety and housing. Receiving the appropriate treatment is important for these offenders to keep them controlled and decrease their chances to find themselves in jail or probation. Offenders who are no longer in treatment or those who medicate themselves with illegal drugs turn to criminal activities as they turn away from the mental health system (p.144). For better treatment results offenders with mental illness receive counseling and medication monitoring by a service provider who afterwards communicates the progress of the offender with the community supervision