The New Asylum Analysis
The documentary video “The New Asylum” (Frontline, 2005) focuses on the fact that prisons have been getting filled up with more and more mentally ill inmates ever since America’s psychiatric hospitals shut down. They have nowhere else to put them, so they put them in prisons. This consists of mentally ill inmates that are schizophrenic, paranoid, psychotic, bipolar, etc. They are not in mental hospitals; they are in prisons.
In many cases across the nation, prison is not the place to provide mental healthcare. There are key points from the documentary that connect to content covered in our course lectures, in this supplemental resource review I will be making those connections clear. Mentally ill inmates are usually locked up for minor violations or parole violations. Non-violent crimes such as: property crimes, petty theft, criminal trespass, etc. Due to them being minor violations, the mentally ill usually start off in minimum security prisons or even medium security prisons. Those who have mental illness simply don’t know how to follow the rules, they might even not take their medications, and they eventually end up in a maximum security prisons as a consequence. Mentally ill inmates present major challenges to prisons; for example, more treatment needs, higher rates of institutional misconduct, risk to other inmates, or even possible risk to themselves (Henning, 2018; Mental Illness – Crime Link III lecture). As we saw in the documentary, the mentally ill inmates were separated from the prison’s general population and housed in mental health units where they could be treated more effectively. More force needs to be used on the mentally ill inmates in prison in order for them to be secured. In some cases, they need to be locked up and removed from certain areas before things escalate with other inmates, the guards, or even themselves. There is an important concept that we need to remember, the purpose of prisons is not to provide medical health treatment.
The prison exists to provide safety and security to the community. Which in some cases it would make sense as to why we would lock up some mentally ill inmates, there is strong evidence that indicates that schizophrenia and psychosis are associated with increased risk for violence and crime (Henning, 2018; Mental Illness – Crime Link II lecture). But even then, those with mental illness still only account for a small percentage of violent offenses. Just about only 10% of the chronically mentally ill engage in serious violent or criminal acts (Henning, 2018; Mental Illness – Crime Link IV lecture). If the mentally ill only account for a small percentage of violent crimes, then why are rates of major mental illness in jails and prisons 16 to 25% higher than the general population? There is a body of research that suggests that people with mental illness are more prone to violence and crime than those without mental illness. With that being said, it is important to keep in mind that there are some very important caveats when it comes down to this body of research. Those caveats could make a certain situation true or false, essentially every situation is different and should be thought of as that way. Providing effective psychiatric care to those with mental illness in a maximum security prison is extremely difficult.
Many of the mentally ill inmates become depressed, hopeless, suicidal, and/or delusional. Many of them hallucinate, and many of them turn to severe mutilation or injure themselves. As we learned this week, hallucinations and delusions could be symptoms to Schizophrenia. Wanting to cause harm to yourself could be a result of having Major Depressive Disorder for example. The courts believe that the level of care that some mentally ill inmates receive in prison seems to be way better than what they would receive if they were out in the community free. This is true to an extent, there is a good system in place in this Ohio prison, but in the rest of the country many mentally ill inmates receive little or no treatment at all. When it comes down to this whole concept, the mentally ill inmates think differently. Some of them believe that treatment in prison has made them better. Others believe that treatment in prison has made them worse. Whether the treatment makes them better or worse it important to keep in mind that they are not being given treatment to cure them. They are being given the treatment to stabilize them, now being stable will not last forever as many cases have proved. A high percentage of people that go into prison eventually get out. This accounts for mentally ill inmates as well. Many of them, once released, fall through the cracks.
In most cases, they stop taking their medications and end up back in jail and possibly even prison. This might make it seem that the recidivism rate for those who are mentally ill is higher than those who are not but that is not the case. It is known from research that inmates with mental disorders who are released to the community are no more likely to recidivate than offenders without these disorders (Henning, 2018; Mental Illness – Crime Link IV). In summary, the increase of mentally ill inmates in America’s prisons has created serious problems within the facilities. These problems resulted after psychiatric hospitals were shut down. For the most part, those who are mentally ill are non-violent with the exception of a small percentage. Every case is different, not every mentally ill inmate reacts the same to the treatment given in prison. It is important to keep that in mind. Having mentally ill inmates in prison costs society more money because they require more attention and time. This means that the prison needs to pay for more guards, nurses, and doctors. Across the nation, in many prisons many mentally ill inmates receive little or no treatment. Prison is simply not the place to provide mental healthcare.
