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Essay on Safety on prison inmates and staff
Essay on Safety on prison inmates and staff
Thesis statement for serious mental illness in prison
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As a correctional officer, I have seen my share of the mentally ill serving time in prison. One case in particular was that of a woman in her mid 30's. This woman suffered from autism and could not form words well. On occasion she could hold a small conversation but had the language skills of a child. Usually, when it came time for lockdown she would refuse to go in her cell because she was afraid to be alone. When forced she would become violent. I saw this woman break a microwave in half as well as the officer;s computer. Having this knowledge allows me to develop the opinion that neuroscience does have a place in the criminal justice system and should in fact be considered more when considering placement. This individual was sentenced
In my opinion, the author defends a good but also complex perspective. '' The criminal activity itself should be taken as evidence of brain abnormality'', says Eagleman, however, what about the percentage of criminals that are not carriers of the genes that contribute to performing violent crimes? Are they going to be sent to rehabilitation too and exonerated from incarceration even when there is proof of no brain
In the book Crazy in America by Mary Beth Pfeiffer, she illustrated examples of what people with mental illness endure every day in their encounters with the criminal justice system. Shayne Eggen, Peter Nadir, Alan Houseman and Joseph Maldonado are amongst those thousands or more people who are view as suspected when in reality they are psychotic who should be receiving medical assistance instead, of been thrown into prison. Their stories also show how our society has failed to provide some of its most vulnerable citizens and has allowed them to be treated as a criminals. All of these people shared a common similarity which is their experience they went through due to their illness.
Few issues will motivate Americans to put down their cheeseburgers and pick up a shotgun faster than the threat of infringement upon their civil liberties. The right to choose what toothpaste to buy, what color socks to wear with those sandals, or what spiritual doctrine to follow, is fiercely defended by both conservatives and liberals alike. In fact, this commitment to personal liberty is what defines us as Americans, and sets us apart from the rest of the world (even if only in our own minds). This attitude is embodied in our presidential rhetoric:
Mentally ill offenders face many challenges while being incarcerated and after being released. Rehabilitation is effective on mentally ill offenders by reducing their symptoms of distress and improving their behavior.
Rock, M. (2001). Emerging issues with mentally ill offenders: Casues and social consequences. Administration and Policy in Mental Health., 165-180.
Living in a prison for a long time becomes difficult for all inmates especially those who are mentally ill face stress when their environment suddenly becomes bars, harsh lights, and super maximum strict schedules. The inmates are forced to face the strict policies and conditions of custody in order to survive in the prison. These prolonged adaptations to the hardship and frustrations of life inside prison lead to certain psychological changes. Most of this inmates find it difficult to adjust in accordance with the prison rules. They get in trouble for destroying state property
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.
The issue of executing mentally ill criminals has been widely debated among the public. They debate on whether it is right or wrong to execute a person who does not possess the capacity to think correctly. The mental illness is a disease that destroys a person’s memory, emotion, and prevent one or more function of the mind running properly. The disease affects the way a person thinks, feels, behaves and relates to others.When a person is severely mentally ill, his/ her ability to appreciate reality lack so they aspire to do stuff that is meaningless. The sickness is triggered by an amalgamation of genetic, and environmental factors not a personal imperfection. On the death penalty website, Scott Panetti who killed his mother in-law and father-in-law reports that since 1983, over 60 people with mental illness or retardation have been executed in the United States (Panetti). The American Civil Liberties Union says that it is unconstitutional to execute someone who suffered from an earnest mental illness (ACLU).Some people apply the term crazy or mad to describe a person who suffers from astringent psychological disorders because a mad person look different than a mundane human being. The time has come for us to accept the fact that executing mentally ill offenders is not beneficial to society for many reasons. Although some mentally ill criminals have violated the law, we need to sustain a federal law that mentally ill criminals should not be put to death.
...ychology of the legal system. With these defendants who truly are mentally disturbed, I feel empathy for them because I do not entirely believe that it is their fault they are like that. A chemical imbalance could be present that causes these violent outrages and risky acts. However, for the ones who commit these wrongdoings should be punished in every possible way. I believe that NGRI should be eliminated because it gives inmates an easy way out of their punishment. What really bothered me was reading about the criminals who would lie about having a mental illness. The man who got a bigger sentence simply for faking a mental illness, deserved it. The others who plea insanity may really need the treatment at mental institutions, but spots are filled up because of the ones who lied. My final say on NGRI is, if you commit a crime, you need to suffer the consequences.
Prison has been around in human society for many millions of years. Having someone who disobeyed the law of that village, town, city or country punished in some form of institution, cutting them off from people, is a common concept – a popular and supposedly “needed” process society has taken to doing for many years now has been put under the spotlight many times by many different figures and people in society. The question remains – do prisons only make people worse? Many articles have been published in many journals and newspapers of the western world (mainly the USA, UK and Australia) saying prison only makes a person worse yet no complaint of the method has come from the less liberal eastern societies; this only proves how in countries where the rights of humans are valued such issues as if prisons only make people worse are important and relevant to keeping fair to all.
The justification of mental capacity; insanity is descried as a person should not be found guilty of the criminal crime because the person does not have mental capacity to know right from wrong within the crime (GA Code § 16-3-2, 2015). For this justification to exculpate the criminal suspect of lawbreaking, the suspect must show hard evidence that they have some type of mental issue during the crime. Mental disorder demonstrates the formation of an illegitimate act should not be a disagreement (Thompson, 2001). If the suspect is can show that he or she has mental illness, which can hinder him or her from going to penitentiary. However, the suspect will be sentences to a mental medical center for insane individuals for a while. Just by being sentences to a mental medical center is the same being sent to penitentiary.
The issue of executing mentally ill criminals has been widely debated among the public. They debate on whether it is right or wrong to execute a person who does not possess the capacity to think correctly. The mental illness is an ailment that affects the way a person thinks, feels, behaves and relates to others. The disease is caused by a combination of genetic, psychological, and environmental factors not a personal weakness or a character flaw. A study by the Death Penalty Information Center found that “executing the insane is unconstitutional; however, if an inmate's mental competency has been restored, he or she can then be executed (deathpenalty).” The time has come for us to accept the fact that executing mentally ill offenders is not beneficial to society for many reasons. Although some mentally ill criminals have broken the law, we need to have a federal law that mentally ill criminals shouldn’t be executed because it’s amoral to take away a life.
Different illnesses evolve around the world. Offenders enter with mentally illnesses when being incarcerated to a state prison or facilities. 55% males inmates and 75% females inmates are mentally ill in state prisons. Mentally ill inmates are often a threat towards other or themselves and face challenges such as being by themselves or being under medication or face abuse.
According to the United States Department of Justice 40 metal health institutions have closed in the past 10 years and at the same time 400 prisons have opened. Sixteen percent of total inmate population in jails and prisons are patients with bipolar disorders or schizophrenia. Criminal behavior is often a result of the illness they have. Many severely ill persons who would have lived their lives in a state hospital are now in the community where they are now perceived as criminals. In this era of deinstitutionalization the criminal justice system is taking the place of state hospitals.
With social media as it is today, more often than not, the offender is guilty until proven innocent by the courts. Alternative sentencing is also a part of the neoclassical theory. Community service, psychological treatments and ankle monitoring bracelets are some forms of sentencing just to name a few. If someone is mentally ill, they punishment may not necessarily fit the crime, because the offender may not realize what they did was wrong. There would need to be an alternative form of sentencing for these individuals. Sticking them in a prison cell, is not going to help them in any way shape or form. Mentally ill individuals are not prominent in prison and some do receive the exact help they are needing. Alternative methods may not be the best way to deter crime and stricter punishment possibly should be enforced. Once offenders know the sentence is going to be detrimental, then they may rethink about committing more crimes. Not to the extreme of like some foreign countries, that if you steal, they cut your hands off, but just more severe punishment or harsher punishment the first time they appear in court, instead of waiting until the third or fourth