Analysis Of Mentally Ill People Who Commit Crimes

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Jon De Morales, director of California 's Atascadero State Hospital, said, "There are criminals who happen to exhibit symptoms of a mental disorder, [and] there are mentally ill people who happen to have committed crimes. They all end up in the same place". Today thousands of individuals are unable to pursue a life after treatment due to society 's views on mental illness. Our society is unaware by the troubling facts about mental illness and are incapable to accept individuals who are mentally ill and committed crimes due to their disorder. Therefore, with certain treatment options in psychiatric hospitals will help ensure proper care so these individuals can be released into society without harming others. In many countries, the question …show more content…

This creates the problem of a patient who is no longer psychotic, needing to remain in a hospital because the legal committee will not release him/her. The question whether the hospital is the proper place for that patient and if public safety is an actual concern is at hand. This then raises issues on how to treat a mentally ill individual who has committed a crime after recovering from their psychotic state, to ensure they will not relapse and become a danger to society. In various countries, there is no legal substitute for prevention. In the article, Mentally Ill People Who Commit Crimes: Punishment or Treatment, the author Dr. Melamed proposes the question, "If the individual is no longer ill, but still dangerous, should he or she remain in the hospital or be transferred to a nonmedical incarceration facility?" While some believe treatment is a better alternative, society is unable to bear the costs of treatment/ rehabilitation which means the individual will be transferred to an incarceration facility. In Connecticut, annually, the average cost for an inmate is $33,000 while the average cost for a mental hospital is $500,000. However, psychiatrist cost more than the average prison guards, the additional $467, 000 does not out way the cost for continued treatment in an outpatient facility

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