Depression and Mental Illness: Crime or Violence/ Treatment or Punishment ABSTRACT Statement of the Problem According to Michael D. Yapko, PhD,(1997) "in every way, depression is a growing problem. Rates of depression have steadily climbed over the last 50 years and are significantly higher in those born after 1954 than in those born before. In addition, the average age of on-set depressive episode is steadily decreasing it is now mid-20s whereas it once was mid-30s. Cross-cultural data show that the United States has a higher rate of depression and mental illness than almost any other country, and that as Asian countries Westernize their rates of depression increase correspondingly."(p.37) And according to the Illinois State Police, (1999), "one of seven depressed people will commit an act of violence against themselves or others." (p.1) The purpose of this paper is to view and discuss depression and mental illness risk factors associated with violence.
This paper will view some of the characteristics and violent behavior risk factors associated with a depressed or mentally ill person. It will also, compare characteristic that characterize a person suffering form depression or a person that is mentally ill. This paper will discuss treatment or punishment debated concerning depression and mental illness in the justice system. Existing studies will be used to help in the study of depression and mental illness from different sources. Depression and Violence Depression, according to Webster (1988), is a psychotic condition marked by an inability to concentrate and feelings of dejection and quilt."(p.364) Depression is most commonly treatable with counseling, but what happens when counseling fail? Although our current mental health system is not perfect it has been able to bring us where we are today.
The current methods have benefited many individuals when going through crisis then stabilizing individuals to the point that they can function in society. So what happens when the benefits are not reaped? These individuals could go through psychotic change. Thomas Hudson stated (1978), "the mind has a dual character, which he described as the subjective mind and the objective mind.
The objective mind takes cognizance of the objective world. Its media of observation are the five senses. It is the out growth of man’s physical nece...
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...t: (http://www.psych.org/public_info/VIOLEN~1.HTM) Government Survey (1990) Violence and Psychiatric Disorders in the Community: Evidence from the Epidemiological Catchment Area Surveys. Hospital and Community Psychiatry (41:761770) Holy Bible (1998) Leviticus Chapter 19 verse 18, King James version (204:2049) Hudson, Thomas (1978) The Laws of Psychic Phenomena. Internet: (http://www.appi.org/pnews/sep20/jail.htm1) (pg.1 & 2) Illinois State Police (1999) Violence in the Workplace Characteristics. Internet: (http://www.state.il.us/ISPviowkplc/vwpp4.htm) Modestin, Jiri (1997) Is Depression A Risk Factor for Crime? Crime Times, Internet: (http://www.crime~times.org/97d/w97dp6.htm) (p.1) National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) (1999) The Criminalization of People with Mental Illness. Summary of the NAMI Policy Platform (1:8) National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) (1999) The Criminalization of People with Mental Illness. Summary of the NAMI Policy Platform (3:8) Taridiff, K. (1980) Assault, Suicide and Mental Illness. Archives of General Psychiatry (37:164169) Webster Dictionary (1988) Unabridged Yapko, Micheal D. (1997) The Art of Avoiding Depression. Psychology Today
NAMI - The National Alliance on Mental Illness. (n.d.). NAMI. Retrieved February 24, 2014, from http://www.nami.org/Template.cfm?Section=by_illness&template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=61191
The media generally portrays the prototypical serial killer through the lens of two extremes. They can either have an incapacitating mental illness or be brilliant, but severely troubled, geniuses. Yet, neither of these two stereotypes are accurate, as serial killers generally display signs of psychopathy, which is not considered a mental illness by the American Psychiatric Association. Despite the erroneousness of Hollywood’s movies and television shows, many psychologists and lawmakers are still considering the degree to which psychopaths can be considered responsible for their actions. In “Psychopathy and Culpability: How Responsible Is the Psychopath for Criminal Wrongdoing?” researchers Adam R. Fox, Trevor H. Kvaran, and Reid Griffith Fontaine attempt to draw conclusions from evidence on whether or not psychopaths meet the criteria for full criminal responsibility. Other researchers, such as Scott E. Culhane, Sage M. Hilstad, Adrienne Greng, and Matt J. Gray, use a case study to demonstrate that psychopathy is not synonymous with serial killers and that mental illness cannot necessarily be used in criminal cases to justify murder in their research paper titled “Self-Reported Psychopathology in a Convicted Serial Killer.” In the remaining two articles
Criminology is only part of anti-social behavior which may include the causes, nature and control of such criminal behavior. Criminology focuses on criminals, while psychology is applied to understand the mind behind the criminal. Criminology deals with research into the cause, form and consequences of a crime. Psychopathology applies science useful in understanding the abnormalities in early development of the brain that contributed to the creation of the social deviant. It is necessary to include data from both fields to formulate hypothesis that state the nature of anti-social behaviors specifically relating to serious disorders such as schizophrenia. Applying the science of psychology to issues relating to violent crim...
"NAMI - The National Alliance on Mental Illness." NAMI. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Feb. 2014.
Lamb, H. Richard., Weinberger, Linda E., & Gross, Bruce H. (2004). Mentally ill persons in the criminal justice system: Some Perspectives. Psychiatric Quarterly 75(2): 107-126.
Prior to taking this course, I generally believed that people were rightly in prison due to their actions. Now, I have become aware of the discrepancies and flaws within the Criminal Justice system. One of the biggest discrepancies aside from the imprisonment rate between black and white men, is mental illness. Something I wished we covered more in class. The conversation about mental illness is one that we are just recently beginning to have. For quite a while, mental illness was not something people talked about publicly. This conversation has a shorter history in American prisons. Throughout the semester I have read articles regarding the Criminal Justice system and mental illness in the United States. Below I will attempt to describe how the Criminal Justice system fails when they are encountered by people with mental illnesses.
Markowitz, F. E. (2011). Mental illness, crime, and violence: Risk, context, and social control. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 36-44.
Seltzer, T., 2005, ‘Mental health courts – A misguided attempt to address the criminal justice system’s unfair treatment of people with mental illnesses’, Psychology, Public Policy and Law, vol. 11, no. 4, pp. 570-586.
...a and Mental Illness • Social Justice Solutions." Socialjusticesolutions.org, 2012. Web. 13 Jan 2014. .
Cooper, Donna. "Cuts to Mental Health Services Could Lead to More Spree Killings." American Progress. Center for American Progress, 31 July 2012. Web. 1 Nov. 2013.
The prevalence of mental disorder in offenders convicted of serious violence, examine their social and clinical characteristics, and compare them with patients convicted of homicide. We examined a national clinical survey of all people convicted of serious violence in England and Wales in 2004. Mental disorder was measured by contact with mental health services within 12 months of the offense. For instance, the mentally ill are not exempt from the death penalty unless they are found
Kahn, Ada P., and Jan Fawcett. The Encyclopedia of Mental Health. 2nd ed. New York: Facts On File, 2001.
Mental disorders and Criminal Behavior is a chapter that talks about people who live with different medical conditions, and how those mentally
Depression is a disabling condition that should be taken seriously. Ever one in ten people worldwide are affected by depression for an estimated 676 million people. People living with a depression have greater than forty-percent chance of dying from premature death that the rest of the population. In many cases suicide is a result of depression due to the lack of attention to the physical problems. In 2012 depression became one of the leading causes of death, 804,000 young adults age fifth teen to twenty-nine committed suicide worldwide. Mental illness like depression rank as the second worldwide as the cause of years loss off one’s life. Depression is the main reason for years lost in cases of disabilities (Al Qahtani & Al
The silent killer that takes lives without warning, punishment, or any sympathy; depression is truly one of the most prominent mental illnesses in the world. Depression is defined as a mental illness inducing a severe and staunch feeling of sadness. The term depressed is coined in English as a temporary sadness that everyone experiences in their life. Despite that depression is more active in women, it is still one of the most common mental illnesses in the world. It affects anybody, regardless of sex, race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic standing. Regardless of all these facts, surprisingly little is known about depression, however, scientists have been able to hypothesize major causes, effects, and treatments for the disability affecting over