Mental Illness In Prison Essay

Contracting a mental illness drastically impacts one's thoughts and ways of life. More specifically, some illnesses can cause people to act abnormally and even in harmful manners. Through these unexplainable actions, many individuals end up in prison, despite not being fully conscious of their unusual actions. However, if support was provided to these people while they were imprisoned, their mental state and decision-making would improve allowing them to then contribute positively to the world. Although many fail to recognize the connection, criminals experiencing mental illness should receive proper treatment because disorders interfere with conscious decision-making, a high frequency of criminal events take place among psychiatric patients,

In some areas, programs allow certain criminals to engage in psychiatric treatment rather than serve jail time. However, a main issue concerning this solution is that many people fail to recognize the severity of the situation and additionally do not recognize that mental illness frequently leads to crime. In a recent analysis, Robert Byron states that “public knowledge of and support for such programs are essential to breaking the cycle of crime that the current prison system perpetuates” (Byron). To move towards a more productive society, people need to become aware of this connection and therefore contribute to the change in prison systems. Additionally, many do not believe that there is a connection between mental illness and the conviction of violent crimes. However, a recent study shows that “although it remains controversial in some circles, several studies indicate that people with mental illnesses are more likely to engage in violence and other crime than those without them” (Link et al. 73). This study proves that despite many people being in

Specifically, “research suggests that patients with mental illness may be more prone to violence if they do not receive adequate treatment, are actively experiencing delusions, or have long-standing paranoia” (Ghiasi et al.). Additionally, in the article “Psychiatric and Neurological Disorders in Late Adolescence and Risk of Convictions for Violent Crime in Men,” Moberg et al. analyze psychiatric and neurological disorders and their relation to the convictions of violent crimes. However, the relationship between these is complex due to the contribution of other staggering risk factors. According to this study, behavioral problems have the strongest association with committing violent crimes while neurological conditions have no association with committing a violent crime. Additionally, “mental retardation, substance-related disorders, personality disorders, and early behavioral problems are important predictors of convictions for violent crime in men'' (Moberg et al. 1). Based on this evidence, society must begin to provide treatment to those suffering from behavioral issues to eliminate the frequent conviction of violent crimes by mentally ill people. This study also prompts the authors to conclude that “a number of scholars have located causes in psychiatric symptoms like paranoid delusions, which are most often linked with