Violent offenders comprised a large proportion of the prison inmates. Therefore, chlorpromazine, which is an antipsychotic, is always used as a chemical restraint in prison inmates to control their behaviours. However, this ‘solution’ has itself become a problem.
Prison system should help to rehabilitate criminals by providing education, vocational training and other redemptive efforts. Nevertheless, these have been substituted by the usage of antipsychotic drugs which indirectly abandons the concept that an individual can be rehabilitated.
Chlorpromazine causes a lot of side effects despite its effectiveness in controlling behaviours. Side effects caused by chlorpromazine include tardive dyskinesia, sedation, orthostatic hypotension, tachycardia, blurred vision, mydriasis, constipation, nausea, dry mouth, urinary retention and sexual adverse effects.13 The
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Aggressive behaviour may negatively influence other inmates and other people working within the prison such as prison wardens and health care professionals working within the facility. The presence of aggressive prisoners may make these people stressed and depressed. So, giving chlorpromazine to reduce aggressive behaviour may be necessary to ensure the safety of the wardens as well as other inmates if other methods prove unsuccessful.
To conclude, the disadvantages of chlorpromazine use in prison greatly outweigh the benefits it brings. It can be considered as an option for certain cases but other more effective measures should be considered to tackle the problem regarding the aggressive behaviours of prison inmates. The patient (the prisoner) should have a say in whether or not he/she wants to take the medication or choose to participate in other rehabilitation methods such as counselling. Imprisonment should not be seen as a punishment, but rather is a way for people to change for