Mental Illness And Crime

The relationship between mental illness and criminal behavior has been a key topic of discussion and concern within our society. Within the field of mental health, corrections and the criminal justice system the research between both mental illness and crime has increased. Many criminal cases have been subject to mentally ill persons being the main perpetrators of a crime. Crime is globalized across the world; criminals often come from all segments of society with some individuals believing that violence is an appropriate response to resolving problems and their personal ability to deal with conflict in their lives. Violence has created much chaos to the public, and the justice system is responsible for handling those issues. Experience

Even though disorders like schizophrenia can be treated through traditional methods such as drug therapy, issues that directly affect criminal behavior such as substance abuse, personality disorders, or any form of developmental disorder are not as treatable through the traditional means. However it is still evident that not all individuals with mental illnesses are violent but due to the impact of the media the public perception has been slanted, that is why people have come to fear certain individuals who suffer from various forms of mental disorders. This is a major stigma that has been globally recognized and has made it extremely difficult for individuals with these mental health issues to properly integrate themselves into society.

Public Perceptions and Overrepresentation Individuals who are mentally ill have been experiencing discrimination, stigma and are often socially isolated which has created major negative impacts on their wellbeing. Within our criminal justice system individuals with mental illnesses have been over-represented. According to an article by CAMH (centre for addiction and mental health) titled “Mental Health and Criminal Justice Policy Framework”, the importance of mental health and criminal justice is highlighted.

According to the article “overrepresentation of people with mental illness in the criminal justice system is often referred to as the “criminalization” of mental illness” (CAMH, 2013). Despite the large rate of individuals with mental illness there still continues to be stigma that has given the public a perception of a widespread of fear, misunderstanding and a belief that these specific individuals are dangerous criminals. According to an article by Fred E. Markowitz titled “Mental illness, crime, and violence: Risk, context, and social control” a survey that was conducted asking the public what the term mentally ill meant to them, the results showed that Americans had a slurred perception of the mentally ill population. The majority of the public associated mental illness with psychosis (Markowitz, F, 2010, Mental illness, crime, and violence: Risk, context, and social control, 38) “Respondents indicated that mental illness means that persons are not in touch with reality or live in their own world. Respondents also used colloquial terms such as “nuts,” “deranged,” or “out of