The overflowing prisons and the increase in diagnosis in mental illness, specifically personality disorders, relating to criminal activity suggests that our society and criminal justice system need to reanalyze and alter the psychological rehabilitation programs in order to effectively reduce and prevent crime. By analyzing specific aspects of prisons and personality disorders, we can objectively interpret the information for use in improving the criminal justice system. Concepts such as the prevalence of personality disorders in prison communities; the relationships between certain crimes and disorders, the idea of institutionalization, as well as possible treatments within the prisons will be examined. Additionally, by understanding the personality disorders that are associated with crime, installation of stronger intervention programs can occur. According to the United States Federal Bureau of Prisons (2013), there are currently 217,862 people incarcerated. Of that total population, 93.3% are men with the remaining 6.7% being women. The current prison populations range from 39-51% over their allotted capacities (James, 2013). Results of overcrowded prisons are seen through increased taxes, lowered staff to inmate ratio and an inability to maintain the structures housing these inmates (James, 2013). Researchers have also determined a correlation between inmate misconduct and overcrowding, adding to the list of negative effects (James, 2013). Along with increasing prison population rates, the diagnoses of mental illness, specifically personality disorders have also risen. The CDC reported in 2011 that at least 25% of US adults have a mental illness and about 20% of US adolescence has a diagnosable ment... ... middle of paper ... ...ce, 35(4), 389-396 Rutherford, H., & Taylor, P. J. (2004). The transfer of women offenders with mental disorder from prison to hospital. Journal of forensic psychiatry & psychology, 15(1), 108-123. Saradjian, J., Murphy, N., & McVey, D. (2013). Delivering effective therapeutic interventions for men with severe personality disorder within a high secure prison. Psychology, Crime & Law, 19(5-6), 433-447. doi:10.1080/1068316X.2013.758972 Sansone, R. A., & Sansone, L. A. (2009). Borderline personality and criminality. Psychiatry, 6(10), 16-20. Steiner B., Wooldredge J. (2008). Inmate versus environmental effects on prison rule violations Criminal Justice and Behavior, 35(4), 438-456. Wogan, M., & Mackenzie, M. (2002). Anti-social personality disorder in a sample of imprisoned non-sex, non-arson adult male offenders. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 35(2), 31-47
Today, prisons are the nation’s primary providers of mental health care, and some do a better job than others. Pete Earley focuses his research on the justice system in Miami, Florida. He documents how the city’s largest prison has only one goal for their mentally ill prisoners: that they do not kill themselves. The prison has no specialized
Jails as Mental Hospitals. A joint report of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill and
The U.S is only 5% of the world’s population and houses a quarter of its prison inmates; well over 2 million people. In the past decade the war on drugs has filled many state and federal prisons with a numerous amount of inmates. Building new prisons is not the answer to tackling the prison overcrowding dilemma. The U.S doesn’t have the money due to economic strains, and it will not solve this issue head on as needed. “California may be forced to release up to 33,000 prisoners by 2013” (Shapiro & Wizner, 2011, p.1.). Some women and men do not belong in prison, and should be given other opportunities to sought help. Prison overcrowding is a growing concern in the U.S today. There are many different alternatives to end prison overcrowding versus releasing them into the community. For example by launching a parole support group or treatment or rehabilitation programs for inmates as well as ex-offenders, house arrest or probation are other routes to explore.
Richardson, E. & McSherry, B., 2010, ‘Diversion down under – Programs for offenders with mental illnesses in Australia’, International Journal of Law Psychiatry, vol. 33, no. 4, pp. 249-257.
illnesses. It is estimated that about 50 percent of prison population suffers from some sort of mental illness. The most common mental illnesses that mostly make up this population are anxiety, antisocial personality disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, major depressive disorder, and bipolar disorder.
Markowitz, F. E. (2011). Mental illness, crime, and violence: Risk, context, and social control. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 36-44.
There are some inmates in jails and prisons that have a mental illness. It has been estimated that 10% to 16% of at adults in U.S prisons and jails have some kind of a mental illness (Mackain and Messer. p.89). It was calculated that 10% of male and 18% of females have a serious mental disorder (Mackain and Messer. p.89)...
Thousands of people statewide are in prisons, all for different reasons. However, the amount of mental illness within prisons seems to go unaddressed and ignored throughout the country. This is a serious problem, and the therapy/rehabilitation that prison systems have do not always help those who are mentally ill. Prison involvement itself can contribute to increased suicide (Hills, Holly). One ‘therapy’ that has increased throughout the years has been the use of solitary confinement, which has many negative effects on the inmates.
According to Goomany & Dickinson (2015), there are many concerns that prison may not be an applicable setting for prisoners to be rehabilitated. Many prisoners have pre-existing mental health complications, and prison life can lead to deteriorating mental health issues, increased severity of the disease, and increased risk of prisoners harming themselves. In fact, mental health problems within the prison system are the leading cause of illness for prisoners. Scheyett, Parker, White, Davis, & Wohl (2010) states “A recent report by the United States Department of Health and Human Services indicates that an estimated fifty-six percent of state prison inmates had symptoms or recent history of a mental health problem; forty-seven percent of these reported three or more symptoms of major depression, compared with 7.9% of the general population of the United States” (p. 301). Research has shown that inmates that experience mental health issues are far higher than other prisoners in the general population to commit suicide during their first week of incarceration. Moschetti, Stadelmann, Wangmo, Holly, Bodenmann, Wasserfallen, & Gravier, (2015) comments that 35.1% of prisoners examined during a recent survey suffered from some form of mental disorder and among all inmates forty percent had at least one physical chronic health
The current prison and criminal justice system has not proven to be helpful in rehabilitating offenders and preventing recidivism. To successfully alter this situation it is important to understand what steps and measures are available to assist those who find themselves imprisoned. The techniques used in cognitive behavioral therapy have proven to be effective in treating depression, anxiety and drug addictions among other things. Analyzing the techniques developed in cognitive behavioral theory and applying them to psychotherapy in prison environments can assist in making improvements in the prevention of criminal activity, rates of incarceration and safety and security of the general population. The literature shows that the use of cognitive behavioral therapy has been effective in the treatment of a variety of criminal offenders.
were males, 7221, and the rest 564 were females. In order to see if the participates had any sort of mental illness they looked at self reported treatment, related to mental health (Biltz). The results of this study found that the amount of inmates that participating in this study had a disproportionally number of inmates with mental healthy that were physically victimized. According to this study prisons are a violent and unsafe place for people who suffer from mental illness (Biltz). Male inmates who suffered from any form of mental illness were nearly 1.6 times more likely to be physically victimized while in prison. Females inmates who had a mental illness were even more likely to suffer from physical victimization, they were nearly 2 times more likely than male inmates with mental illness (Blitz). Inmates that were African Americans and Hispanics were more likely to be physically victimized either by inmates or staff.
Criminal Justice officials understand the situation in their prisons regarding mental health but have not taken action to fix it. For example, “According to the Department of Justice, abo...
Bartol, C. R. (2002). Criminal behavior: A psychosocial approach. (6 ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Many people idealized the relevancy of living in a civilized world, where those who break the law are reprimanded in a less traditional sense of punishment in today’s standard. Instead of just doing hard time, programs and services could and should be provided to reform and rehabilitate prisoner. Despite standard beliefs, many individuals in prison are not harden criminals and violent offenders, many of these people suffer mental illness and substance abuse Hoke
This research proposal aims to examine the effectiveness of British prisons, a topic that seems to be omnipresent in the media and in public debate. Allison (2014) recently reported that suicide and murder rates in British prisons are at the highest level that it has been for years. In 2013, there were 199 prison deaths, which included four homicides and seventy suicides. Moreover, statistics gathered by the Prison Reform Trust suggest that the rises in prison suicide rates may be a result of mental health problems, with 26% of women and 16% of men being treated for mental heath problems prior to their prison sentence; and a massive 62% of men and 52% of women are classed as exhibiting a personality disorder (ibid). Therefore, these statistics alone justify an updated examination of the effectiveness of British prisons, but there are also other areas that require investigation.