The Mental Health Effects of Being in Prison Essay Example

At the beginning of the process of deinstitutionalizing the United States, hopes were high. It was expected that the mentally ill would be rid of the abusive nature of mental hospitals, and that they would be able to seek treatment and support in community based programs. However, upon the mass release of institutionalized patients, many problems ensued: homelessness, substance abuse disorders, violent tendencies, all now visible to the public. Soon, the general opinion of the Mentally Ill tarnished, and so too did funding for treatment programs. As a result, the Mentally Ill were corralled to prisons. Despite the efforts made to end the mass incarceration of the mentally ill, it continues due to lack of community support. 

When the mentally ill were released from institutions, it was expected that community programs would be established, and that the mentally ill would be able to self-medicate and self-regulate symptoms. Nonetheless, once in the outside world, it became clear that “There was little planning for structured living arrangements and insufficient planning for community treatment and rehabilitative services”(Sunsick & Belcher 71). As a result of lack of community support for treatment programs, in addition to a lack of sufficient forethought, a disproportionate amount of those living on the streets were mentally ill. Being homeless has always had a certain stigma to it, but when combined with the stigma of being mentally ill, public support completely dwindled, so much to the point that being mentally ill and homeless has become a crime. There has been a concerted effort in keeping the homeless at bay, often by incarcerating them. Since such a high percentage of the homeless population is mentally ill, arrests of the homeless automatically translates to the incarceration of the mentally ill. In Patterns of Exclusion: Sanitizing Space, Criminalizing Homelessness, it is written that, “Images of moral decay and social disorder set the table for legislative efforts aimed at regulating street people and criminalizing homelessness” (Amster 199). In this case, moral decay refers to the “dirty” and “violent” stereotype that is often associated with homelessness. When the law becomes involved, not only is there a case of stigma and general disdain for the homeless, there is also legal action being taken against them. Besides the general population lacking support for the homeless, it is also the rich and powerful who change public opinion on the mentally ill, thus increasing incarceration: “It is [apparent] that standards of civility and legality are generally determined by those in positions of power and advantage who manipulate such standards to suit their interests and protect their domains of property and authority” (Amster 200). In order to support personal, political agendas, the reputation of the destitute has been warped to such a point that they are now seen as criminals. 

It is a dangerous mindset to believe that mentally ill people are inherently violent. In fact, they are some of the most targeted victims of crimes. With that being said, however, “Some individuals manifest their illnesses through obstreperous behavior, hostility, aggression, and violence.” (Johnston 171). The fact that sometimes, in order to express their disorder, mentally ill people occasionally act in an irrational manner often leads to an increased stigma surrounding mental illness in addition to an increased arrest rate. When the mentally ill act out, they are often met with police intervention, and most of the time, instead of being referred to a proper treatment facility, they are legally reprimanded. Rejolo-Howell states, “Often, people with mental illnesses exhibit disruptive behaviours as a symptom of their illness. The police typically respond to these situations by arresting the individual instead of referring them to appropriate treatment centres.” (Relojo- Howell, paragraph 7). The root of this particular problem is a lack of understanding on the public’s and police’s part. There are insufficient treatment options for mentally ill people, and so the police, when faced with a dangerous situation, must respond with detention. One could argue that the police have not received proper training when it comes to detaining and transporting mentally ill individuals experiencing a mental health episode. It has been argued that, “criminal justice professionals are still ill-equipped when it comes to responding to disturbances caused by an individual suffering from mental illnesses'' (Relojo-Howell, paragraph 14). This demonstrates that with proper training systems in place, readily available treatment options and overall community support, incarceration rates of the mentally ill can dramatically lower.  

There are high rates of co-occurring disorders in the mentally ill population. Of course there is the ailment at hand, and much of the time, that second illness is a substance abuse disorder. While there are programs such as “Alcoholics Anonymous” or “Narcotics Anonymous”, there are very few dedicated treatment programs for mentally ill drug addicts. Of course, just because somebody is suffering from a disease does not mean that they are immune to the law. Because of the high amount of drug addicts suffering from mental illness, many people of unsound mind are incarcerated for drug charges. The lack of treatment options does not just involve a deficiency in therapy programs but also issues surrounding  “Mislabeling, rejecting, failing to recognize, or automatically transferring patients with dual disorders” which “can result in inadequate treatment, with patients falling between the cracks of treatment systems” (Center for Substance Abuse. Chapter 3, page 2). Since it is so difficult for those suffering from substance abuse issues to receive proper help, diagnosis, and path for recovery, it happens frequently that they are left untreated, allowing their drug habits to fester and overtake their lives. Additionally, in order to be charged with possession of drugs, the perpetrator does not need to have kilos of cocaine, or several grams of heroin—even the smallest amount on the person is enough to make an arrest:

“[S]imply being where drugs are known to be present is grounds for arrest in some jurisdictions, and convictions on charges beyond simple possession can result in some cases in draconian prison sentences as well as additional post-incarceration penalties” (UMass, paragraph 2)

Imprisonment can be  a particularly severe punishment for mentally ill people because they can often be forgetful due to the disorder at hand, and also many are known to ‘self medicate’ with narcotics or other drugs. With an increased quantity of treatment options for people suffering from mental illness and a co-occurring disorder, there would be a much smaller number of mentally ill people in prison. 

The conditions in prison not only minimize the chance of producing a well-adjusted citizen of a mentally ill prisoner, but the rules, regulations and penalties in prison also have the potential to make incarcerated mentally ill people spend more time in jail than the average prisoner. Besides the issue of the cycling of mentally ill inmates through the prison system, being in jail can cause the deterioration of one’s mental health. Scharff Smith writes, “between 8 and 19 percent of prisoners have significant psychiatric or functional disabilities and another 15 to 20 percent will require some form of psychiatric intervention during their incarceration” (453). This shows that prison has the opposite effect of a rehabilitation or treatment center. Some of the events in prison that cause worsening mental health symptoms include sexual violence, solitary confinement, and physical abuse (Johnston 160-161).  Additionally, some psychological conditions make it difficult to follow prison rules, making it so a high amount of mentally ill inmates must face punishment, and sometimes even elongate their internment. “inmates with certain mental illnesses adapt to prison less successfully, are less able to conform to prison rules, and are punished more often and more severely than their non-ill counterparts.” (Johnston 170). It could be argued that the legal system in and of itself is designed to keep mentally ill inmates within the confines of prison. The mistreatment of prisoners and the worsening mental health effects are, when it comes down to it, a direct result of minimal community support. The poor conditions in prison, the infrequent therapy sessions and and the strictly enforced rules would all be avoided if, in a perfect world there were more treatment centers rather than prisons. However, at this time it is apparent that the first step to stopping the incarceration of the mentally ill would be improving conditions within prisons. 

When analyzing the reasons that mentally ill people continue to end up in prisons, all can be attributed to a lack of community support. With a lack of funding and treatment options, psychologically troubled individuals are prodded into prisons for petty crimes that involve drugs, homelessness and mental health episodes that victimize them and force them into the system indefinitely.