Recidivism of the mental ill in Penal System
Introduction
At the start of the new century, the United States is considered to be the leader in incarceration for having the higher range of populations behind the bars as compared to the other countries. This is commonly the result of the decisions in policy as in the various government levels regarding the imprisonment. Nonetheless, the incarceration is not yet proven to be best and effective way in the reduction of crime rates and it can also brought social cost and significant financials. The continuing growth cases of the recidivism in the United States are one of the reasons for having the policy in the United States regarding imprisonment (Sentencing Project, 2002). Recidivism is the chronic and habitual relapse or it is also the tendency in going back into the antisocial and crime behavior (Your Dictionary, 1996). Currently, the United States has many individuals who are mentally ill are found behind the bars of prison as compared to the government hospital. The repetition in committing the criminal offenses is due to the absence of enough treatments of mental health which are the support from the employment, to the income, and to the housing that cycled for in and out regularly in the correctional facilities (Abramsky, 2003, p. 193). United States had considered the Recidivism as related to the system of criminal justice. There is usually a distorted judgment due to the fact that they are mentally ill as being falling back and took as it is negative. The condition usually perceived as negative and undesirable. Inside the general society’s context, most of the people tells that the recidivism falls to the negative behavior as taking alcohol, illegal drugs, subjected to theft, arson, burglary, vehicle theft and sexual abuse. The penal system’s critics looks for the rates of the recidivism so that they the effectiveness. The condition is serious problem in the sense of criminal as it can be harmful for all of the levels and need to avoid. This can also be resulted to the penal system of the administrators’ n believing to the fact that the people need not to repeat the crimes as they had been punished. The repetitions only needs that the new approaches as programs of support and therapy will be preventive (Smith, 2003).
I. From Mental Hospitals to Jail for Mentally Ill
A. History of Psychiatric Hospital
The psychiatric hospital had been operated in the United States for over 200 years as the Institute of Pennsylvania Hospital was the founder of organization in the year 1751. The facilities of the psychiatric hospital are being taken from the charitable donations, community services and volunteers, and to the family fortunes. Being independent organizations, the hospitals are primarily relying on the nongovernmental funding in their financial needs. These are the special hospital that only focused on the service regarding the mental disorders. The organizations are focusing primarily on the realities of experience, morals, and the political during the times because some are neglected for permission to home care patients by the public appeals. The hospitals in the earliest times are focused on the security and into the safety to the most prone population. They had also worked in serving the people for any ages as they can improve the lives of the patients who they used to serve. This can also change the views of the people in the causes of the mentally ill as applying the best treatment which is the role of the family. Through the evolutionary development of the hospital, the variations for services that hospital is offering only reflects the different treatment of population and philosophies of the organization. The treatment in the program had also been changed as the first time became greater extent in the active treatment for the patients. There is also been domination for the public psychiatric hospital as they found that the mentally ill and the care for the poor are the state’s responsibility. At the year 1955, United States had served for about 550,000 patients that focus on one care of community-based. By the year 1963, it is the end of the preeminence for the state psychiatric hospital which is also the start of the deinstitutionalization. This had been rooted from the implementation of the Community Mental Health Centers Constructions Act and Mental Retardation Facilities. In the same era, the public hospital had also been shift to private services and had climbed for about 444 hospitals n the year 1988 (Talbott and Hales, 2001, p.229)
B. Treatment and Services in Hospital and Jail
In accordance to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the 26.3 percent of the mentally ill has the 3 to 4 prior sentence to incarceration or probation. This also recorded that 81.2 percent has the criminal history ad the jail inmates which have the mental illness have the same criminal histories. As noted by the Council of State Government, the individuals having the mental illness and leaves the prison can result to the technical violation of behavior of releasing the new crime or conditions when there are no sufficient supplies of medications, connection to all of the support services and the mental health. The government of United States offers services for the mentally ill who are in jail by giving them the discharge planning. They gave the patient two-week supply of the medications as well as the names of the institutions and providers which can also help them upon released. They also allow to work in the mental health professional and to the counselors upon the plan for release. On the financial assistance, the federal law had developed for the mechanism n accelerating the security for the eligibility of the prisoners in the immediate benefits. The state has also program of ex-offender as to ensure the continuous treatment and the coverage of the health programs. The US government also created the network of houses wherein the mentally ill can live even for the eight months. Together with the fiscal crises that the country had experiencing, these only show for the short term manner. The inmates in receiving medication or mental health therapy and its percentage were higher in female prisons. Greater than one in four female prisoners is in therapy and 1/5 was on the process of medication. Generally the government only provides minimal help for the prisoners especially mentally ill, as they can help for the process of application and to the eligibility in the release date. The prisoners cannot also allow applying for the medical benefits while they are currently incarcerated and this can only start upon release (Ambramsky, 2003, pp. 193-203).
There are specialty services for the psychiatric hospital even used during the recent times. These specialty services include the eating disorder programs, the adolescents units, and the chemical dependency treatment program in order to have response on the lack or unavailability of the specialization of the services. There are also new medications which are rapidly becoming available in helping to manage the research and variety of disorders which can demonstrate on how effective the psychotherapeutic technique. This technique can help in creation of technological advancement wherein the serve the individual who experienced the mental illnesses (Talbott and Hales, 2001, p.229). Parts of the services in the psychiatric hospital are the 24-hour health care services and residential treatment. The hospitals also offer therapeutic services as the dance, the psychotherapy, occupational therapy and art. The medication had also been used by the hospitals and the therapists are paying attention in the development and the impact of life on their unit (Glass, 1995, p. 1).
The mental disorders and the mental anxiety are the most common mental illness in United States as recorded by the National Institute of Mental Health. This means that the 16 percent of the adults being incarcerated in the jails of the country and had been prison have the mental anxiety. In accordance to the report of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, almost 20 percent of the youth in the system of juvenile justice has the chronic problems on mental health and huge number has the amount of abuse disorders.
II. The Jail for the Mentally Ill
According to the Director of the U.S. Program and Human Rights Watch Jamie Fellner, the prison is the primary mental health facility in United States but it also is the worst place for the people who have the serious illness. This is resulted for 300,000 mentally ill citizens in United States prison due to the fact that there are no places for them to go. The serious problem occurred as the one of the jails in Los Angeles had became the largest country’s largest institutions. This situation is critical but there are no political will dealing with the problem. The lack of the resources and the largest running mental institution for the United States are also the reason for applying of the alternatives as jail. On the national level, the problem on the accommodation for the mentally ill are increasing as in the year 2000, they reached for about 283,000 inmates as taken from the department of justice. The problem had also exacerbated due to the closure of many mental institutions under the policy of the care in the community which is being introduced in the 80s. For the year 1982 and up to the year 2001, the range of the beds in public hospital for the mentally ill declined for about 69 percent. The problems in the said scenario had resulted for many serious problems including the improper medication they are receiving (Campbell, 2003).
As taken from the Human Rights Watch, the increase of the incarceration rate of the mentally ill is the result of the disorganized, underfunded, and the fragmented services of the community mental health. The local government and the state had shut down the health hospitals in the United States yet they failed in providing the adequate services. Most of the people who has the mental illness which are particularly the poor, the struggling with abuse problems substance, and the homeless cannot afford and the get the treatment for health. In this manner, committing crime can be punished y the sentencing the laws as mandated by imprisonment (Human Rights Watch, 2004).
Their services cannot be enough and not suited for the conditions of the mentally ill. Firstly, the security staff cannot distinguish the prisoner who are disruptive and to those who cause problems and reasons. Regarding the place and facilities, the thousand of the prisoners which includes the prisoners of mentally ill are living in the overcrowded, decrepit, poorly ventilated, and dirty facilities. The overcrowding can resulted in the residential setting which can put the inmates who are mentally ill to the great deal of risk and can also harm to themselves and can also cause harm to the others. The prisons have also lack of supply of the water and have the defective ping-pong and plumbing toilets. They also tell the existence of the mosquitoes and other insects during the summer. The mentally ill inmates who act according to their conditions had been punish and disregarding their mental status due to the inadequate and malpractice of their staffs. In the case of the juvenile prisons, the youths are of the age below eighteen. The modules of youth are commonly locked by the single cells with nothing to do for 23 hours everyday (Ambramsky, 2003, p. 61-62).
Comparing the treatment of the psychiatric hospital, it greater advancement compared to the prison for the mentally ill in US. The hospital gave its patients the sufficient medications for their conditions as well as receiving the therapy and counseling with the professional. The patients also received other services on mental health. It has also the authorized physician who evaluates the patients regularly while having the sufficient and enough facilities suitable for the needs of the development of the mentally ill patients (Kentucky Statute, n.d.).
III. Human Supports for the Mentally ill Patients
The Human Rights Watch is only one of the independent organizations that supports and find justice for the mistreatment and neglected imprisonment. In order to abolish the recidivism of the mentally ill patients in the jails, they need to have the therapy, structured days, and beyond the usual medications. This means that sitting in the cells with their demons will make them worst. They also have the adequate and increase of the community mental health care. The other suggestions are the settling of the higher standards for the services of the mental health prisons, hiring of the more of the qualified mental health staff, improve the conditions of confinement, and the better training for the employees and correction guards. To forbid the prisoners of the mentally ill in the solitary confinement and the relocation in the regional prisons wherein they can be treated properly are some of the suggestion in order to overcome the obstacles regarding the problems of imprisonment. According to the study of the Human Rights Watch, the prisons and the jails are the default of the nation in terms of mental health system as well as the state hospitals had closed while the prison system of the country had multiplied by four for the past years. This means that the falling of the mental hospital is significant. They had also been founded that there is growth in the admission of the mentally ill in jail and prison. Accordingly, there are also higher female inmates according to Department of Justice which needs to try to more focus to the females’ patients.
IV. The Society and the Resources Obligations
Anyone or any organizations are responsible for the mistreating which had been experiencing by the mentally ill prisons of the country. It should urge the Congress of the United States in enacting the proposal of Mike DeWine and Ted Strickland in providing the federal grants in diverting the offenders of mentally ill into the treatment program and not to the prison or in jail so that it can improve the quality of the prison inmate and the services of mental health. It has also highly recommended that the use of the experts when it comes to the independent mental health. This can be applicable in assessing the mental health service is the given system of prison. To advice the correctional agencies and the elected officials can be recommended so that there is an assurance of receiving the mental health service by the mentally ill prisoners and has the community standards of care. This can also called for the rules and for the prevention of the housing prisoners with the mental illness and isolation of confinement or must the strict security in prisons. Generally, the National Commission of Correctional Health Care (NCCHC) must be able assist and evaluate every aspects of the prisons and its status whether for the regular prisoners or to the mentally ill. It is also importance and evaluate the conditions if the mentally ill patients (Hajela, 2003).
Bibliography
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Baldwin’s Kentucky Revised Statutes Annotated Title XVII. Economic Security and Public Welfare. Kentucky Statute. Retrieved May 1, 2008, from http://www.psychlaws.org/LegalResources/StateLaws/Kentuckystatute.htm
United States: Mentally Ill Mistreated in Prison. Human Rights Watch, Retrieved May 1, 2008, from http://hrw.org/english/docs/2003/10/22/usdom6472.htm.
Campbell, D. (2003, March 3). 300,000 Mentally Ill in US Prison. Common Dreams. Retrieved May 1, 2008, from http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/0303-09.htm.
Smith, S (2003). What is Recidivism?. Wise Geek. Retrieved May 1, 2008, from http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-recidivism.htm.
Mentally ill Offenders in Criminal Justice System: An Analysis and Prescription, Sentencing Project. Retrieved May 1, 2008, from www.sentencingproject.org.
Recidivism. Your Dictionary, May 1, 2008, from http://www.yourdictionary.com/recidivism.
Glass, J. (1995). Psychosis and Power: Threats to Democracy in the Self and the Group. New York: Cornell University Press.
Talbott, J. and Hales, R. (2001). Textbook of Administrative Psychiatry. United States: American Psychiatric Pub, Inc.
Ambramsky, S. (2003). Ill-Equipped: U.S. Prisons and Offenders with Mental Illness. United State: Human Rights Watch.
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