The Pros And Cons Of United States Prisons

United States Prisons: A Mental Cage
The United States is one of the world’s most recognized and powerful superpowers since its industrial and commercial production along with their nearly limitless military budget make them practically invincible. This demonstrates the power of the United States on foreign soil and problems, yet many internal problems in the United States are left disregarded and neglected, simply thrown away. Citizens and lawmakers remain silent on several key social issues and on one of the biggest shameful topics of neglect, America’s incarceration rate. The United States is the country with the most people incarcerated in the world. Many of these people who are imprisoned do not deserve prison, since, in reality,

Currently the World Health Organization claims that 450 million people around the world suffer from some kind of mental or behavioral illness, and this impacts 15.4 percent of the lives lost around the globe. The American Psychological Association states that in order for something to be a mental illness, it needs to be deviant, dysfunctional, and distressful (Myers 561).Through this staggering number, the world understands and acknowledges those impacted by psychological disorders, yet it only sits back and stares. To these people, their emotions, life, physical and mental well being is compromised yet the resources to aid them and bring them back to the everyday world are not readily available. The confusion, lack of control, and external pressures exerted on a mentally ill person leads them to deviate away from the normal ways of society. In order to bring them back and make them a functioning member of society, the hospitals and government should spread their programs and make it more easily available and cheaper, since many of the mentally ill lack the social acceptance that most people have. Since society doesn’t accept those who exhibit deviant and dysfunctional behavior, it places an emotional burden on those suffering, since they aren’t accepted by many. Aside from

These mentally ill people can make the physical environment a dangerous one, since their unpredictable behavior can prove dangerous to children, the elderly, and any pedestrian walking around. Many societies, especially cities, have high rates of the untreated mentally ill walking amongst the common people, which can prove disastrous. An example cited by Fuller Torrey, the author of American Psychosis : How the Federal Government Destroyed the Mental Illness Treatment System, was that in 2011 a Los Angeles mentally ill woman stole an infant from another woman. This mentally ill woman swung the baby by the leg, slamming its head into a metal railing. After the police arrived and the baby, taken to safety, the questioning process for the woman began. As her questioning continued, the police asked her what her motive was, she replied saying that she wanted to break off the baby’s leg to eat it. (Torrey American Psychosis 128). This horrifying incident exemplifies the danger that the mentally ill prove to the citizens, since their lives and property can be harmed or damaged. Though the law has the right to punish the criminal actions of the woman, the appropriate actions and steps would be to lead the woman to an institute where she can be protected and the citizens can be protected as well. Instead