The National Council on Disability developed ten recommendations to address civil right protection in mental health disabilities. These recommendations address civil rights for people with mental disabilities and promote equal opportunity, self-sufficiency, and integration of disabled person. The first one I picked out of the ten recommendations from the National Council on Disability is where federal, state, and local governments, including education, healthcare, social services, juvenile justice, and civil rights enforcement agencies, must work together to reduce the placement of children and young adults with disabilities, particularly those labeled seriously emotionally disturbed, in correctional facilities and other segregated settings.
The fight for improved health care for those with mental illness has been an ongoing and important struggle for advocates in the United States who are aware of the difficulties faced by the mentally ill and those who take care of them. People unfortunate enough to be inflicted with the burden of having a severe mental illness experience dramatic changes in their behavior and go through psychotic episodes severe enough to the point where they are a burden to not only themselves but also to people in their society. Mental institutions are equipped to provide specialized treatment and rehabilitative services to severely mentally ill patients, with the help of these institutions the mentally ill are able to get the care needed for them to control their illness and be rehabilitated to the point where they can become a functional part of our society. Deinstitutionalization has led to the closing down and reduction of mental institutions, which means the thousands of patients who relied on these mental institutions have now been thrown out into society on their own without any support system to help them treat their mental illness. Years after the beginning of deinstitutionalization and after observing the numerous effects of deinstitutionalization it has become very obvious as to why our nation needs to be re-institutionalized.
As time goes on, the law has put more emphasis on facility just like Bridgewater State Hospital in which many of the actions of the facility workers can face legal consequences such as facing prison time, fines, lawsuits, and etc. Society has a better understanding of why certain people act the way that they do and being more knowledgeable about psychology and mental diseases allows us to have a different approach when dealing with these topics or these individuals. In today’s era, there are many normal individuals who are willing to stand up for those who do not have a voice of their own. I believe that this change in one’s ability to stand up for another individual or group of individuals is what brought about change to the medical environment of those who are mentally
Social justice has influence change in policies for the mentally ill. Opening the doors for political reform. Throughout history, the treatment of the mentally ill has taken many shapes. Influence by the time periods core values and ideas of social justice. Before the colonization, society did not see the mentally ill as human beings. This ideology was Influence by religion that considered them to be evil or demons. Especially during the Black Death when people were only looking for escape goats. Day, & Schiele, (2013) This would only make things worse for mentally disabled. Rendering them defenseless and at the will of society. Their disabling conditions would prevent them from self-advocacy. They would have to depend on family members to advocate; and demand social justice for them. The overwhelming societal norms influence by religion and fueled by fear punishment appeared to be the only solution.
Not all individuals in the prison are the same, therefore should be treated and cared for accordingly to reduce any type of problems in the facility. The prison system would not have to worry if everyone had done their individual jobs correctly and gathered the right type of information to file for any inmate with a certain disability.
The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world and of that over sixty percent of jail inmates reported having a mental health issue and 316,000 of them are severely mentally ill (Raphael & Stoll, 2013). Correctional facilities in the United States have become the primary mental health institutions today (Adams & Ferrandino, 2008). This imprisonment of the mentally ill in the United States has increased the incarceration rate and has left those individuals medically untreated and emotionally unstable while in jail and after being released. Better housing facilities, medical treatment and psychiatric counseling can be helpful in alleviating their illness as well as upon their release. This paper will explore the increasing incarceration rate of the mentally ill in the jails and prisons of the United States, the lack of medical services available to the mentally ill, the roles of the police, the correctional officers and the community and the revolving door phenomenon (Soderstrom, 2007). It will also review some of the existing and present policies that have been ineffective and present new policies that can be effective with the proper resources and training. The main objective of this paper is to illustrate that the criminalization of the mentally ill has become a public health problem and that our policy should focus more on rehabilitation rather than punishment.
“The earth is the mother of all people, and all people should have equal rights upon it” -Chris Joseph
Several states authorize police officers to arrest mentally ill people who have not broken any law. It is argued that this process is a way to promote public order. Hospitals also transfer mentally ill patients to jail in order to deal with the overflow. It is not uncommon for children to be confined to criminal detention centers because there is a lack of facilities for severely mentally ill children. Relying on the criminal justice systems to be surrogate mental health systems conflicts with the basic notions of justice. (Aufderheide,
The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) was established under the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013 (NDIS Act) to provide lifetime support to Australians with a severe disability under the age of 65. The National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) was also established under the Act and their role is to implement and manage the NDIS and ensure all Australians with disability will receive support. These people who are supported by the NDIS are participants; and they will have reasonable and necessary supports, so they can enjoy a better and more ordinary life.
In 1972, Geraldo Rivera with the help of Dr. Michael Wilkin of Staten Island's Willowbrook State School gained access to the institution and filmed the deplorable conditions the residents were living in. Now 25 years later the documentary reflects on four survivors of Staten Island's Willowbrook State School and their families. The family members give testimonials on how it felt to discover that their child had a disability, leave their loved ones in an institution, and the quality of care and services provided. The film also focuses on the progress made by the members that now live in group homes and the quality of their lives.
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.
In the give case study, Mr. Jones is 58 year old, his height is 6feet, and 2inches with body weight 195 pounds. He diagnosed with multiple sclerosis about ten years ago and he has good upper extremity strength and less strength in lower extremity. He works at post office as a clerk and he is independently performs his ADLs with some assistant. The features required in a wheelchair depend upon user characteristics and intended activities. The components include for Mr. Jones wheelchair are wheels, tires, frames, materials, construction details, seats, backrests, brakes, hand rims, footrests and armrests(Dellabiancia, Porcellini, and Merolla,2013). According to Mr. Jones living situation, he requires manual reclining custom wheelchair because
If you are disabled and unable to work, you have likely considered pursuing a Social Security Disability (SSD) claim. While this government program exists to help those in need, navigating the applications and paperwork can be a headache. Even clearly valid claims can sometimes require appeals and months of waiting. For this reason, many Social Security claimants choose to seek the advice of an experienced lawyer.
The first policy that needs to be looked into for revision is with relation to inmates with present or previous mental conditions. Despite the fact that there could be a deemed stigma in isolating such cases, for the sake of their safety as well as the entire facility there is need to institute new policies to keep such people under different conditions with the rest of the inmates. This should however be policed in such a manner as to elucidate any notions of discrimination.
“Rafi did very well for his ‘A’ Levels and, although he did not gain admission into the teacher training programme due to health and mobility concerns, he is pursuing his dream of teaching by giving home tuition.” (Lim, 2004) Rafi, a student with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), a degenerative physical disability is most likely difficult to treat by teacher with anxiety. However, his teachers play a really big role in guiding Rafi to his general outlook on life and success. This sentence proves that pursuing dreams for learners with physical disabilities is not impossible. Although they have many weaknesses, but they still can be treated fairly. Firstly, the Nature of Physical Disabilities has to be understood.
Students with disabilities are far too frequently isolated and separated from the education system (Johnson). They are often provided a diluted, inferior education and denied meaningful opportunities to learn. There are many education rights for children with disabilities to protect them from discrimination, giving them a chance for equal opportunity to learn what other students are expected to learn.... ... middle of paper ... ...