Mental Illness In Prison Essay

According to recent data, an estimated 13% of all prison inmates within the United States are seeking treatment for mental illnesses (Peak & Everett, 2017). While 13% are seeking treatment, an estimated 30% of United States inmates suffer from mental illnesses. We now know from recent studies that the presence of mental illness is higher in prison populations than civilian society (Diamond et al., 2001). However, this does not mean that those with mental illnesses are more likely to commit crimes -- it simply means that those that do commit crimes are more likely to be mentally ill.
Prisons in the United States are required to provide mental health care as stated in the Supreme Court ruling of Estelle v. Gamble (1976), which found that the

Voinovich lawsuit, explains how he led a team that investigated conditions for the mentally ill in Ohio prisons. The main point in Dunn v. Voinovich was that the plaintiff claimed that their mental health issues were not being cared for, therefore in violation of their eighth amendment rights. When the Dunn lawsuit was filed, there were six psychiatrists for the entire system. By the end of the case, there were over forty. Before the lawsuit, Cohen recalls, there was no system in place to deal with the mentally ill. Rather, they were segregated and ignored which often hurt them more than anything. Cohen states that it is not just the inmates that are in danger, it is also the prison staff. “...They don't know what to expect. A prison without treatment is very noisy. It's very dangerous: It's dangerous for staff, and it's dispiriting; it's dangerous for fellow inmates.” He later speaks about how there was a horrifying lack of training, education, physical facilities, and mental health staff. When asked if he was surprised by his findings, Cohen responds that he was overwhelmingly surprised and goes on to state how he believes that prisons are the new asylums. Towards the end of the interview, Cohen states that society needs to focus on the larger task at hand of mental illness, not just mentally ill inmates. He believes that by addressing the