Eleanor Linafelt 4/13/13 BLUE

No Place but Prison for the Mentally Ill Eleanor Linafelt 4/17/13 Blue Group

Eleanor Linafelt 4/13/13 BLUE

Prisons are meant to be places where inmates can reflect on their crime and stay out of public for an allotted time so they will have a reduced chance of committing another crime. When the convicts are mentally ill, however; this goal becomes harder to achieve, especially when only 1 in 3 of the mentally ill inmates in the state prisons receive treatment during their stay (Glaze & James). Jails in the United States are not designed to help out prisoners with mental illnesses, but those are the majority of the people held in them. This creates a wide spectrum of problems, worsening the prisoners mental stability, and greatly increasing their chance to be re-admitted to the jail, undermining the fundamental goal of the prison system. Since the mentally ill receive inadequate treatment for their poor psychological health in prisons, resulting in an increased deterioration of the prisoners psychological state, a waste of taxpayers money on the multiple recidivisms, and greater expenses toward the care needed for the prisoner, state governments must provide an increased number of psychiatric facilities as well as treatment in prison for the mentally ill. In the early 1800s, the United States was going through the same problem as it is today: there were extremely poor conditions in jail, and a lack of psychiatric institutions. Reverend Louis Dwight and Dorothea Dix were two social reformers of the time who realized the plight of the mentally ill and pushed for change. They visited prisons and publicized what they saw there. Dix persuaded state legislatures for improved care for the mentally ill, and was successful. By 1880, severely mentally ill inmates constituted only 0.7 percent of the population of jails and prisons (Torrey). There were psychiatric facilities established across the country that housed the mentally ill. Today, after deinstitutionalization has been in effect for many years, 73% of the females and 53% of the males in state prisons have a mental illness (Glaze & James).

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The source of these staggeringly greater percentages is rooted in the latter half of the 20th century, when the United States began to deinstitutionalize the mentally ill, moving them out of psychiatric facilities, and, in the cases of many, into prisons. By decreasing the amount of hospital beds available, more people with a mental illness were out on the streets, many of them committing crimes. Although deinstitutionalization was based on the principle that severe mental illness should be treated in the least restrictive setting, the majority of those released from institutions made their way to a much more restrictive setting of prison (Torrey). In the institutions, the patients were being treated for their illness, but in prisons, very little treatment was available. With poor treatment in prisons, the already unstable psychological state of the mentally ill becomes worse, leading to violence and sometimes suicide. One of the sources of the inadequate treatment is the lack of staff trained to treat mentally ill prisoners. According to a recent survey, twenty-four out of forty state prisons do not have enough mental health staff (Human Rights Watch). Therapy is very scarce in prison, and it is difficult to get appropriate medications to the inmates. These factors have very negative results. Inmates often turn to selfdestruction, in the form of cutting and attempted suicide. Of the suicides committed in prison, 70% of them are committed by people with a mental illness (The New York Times Editorial Board). Violence with the other inmates often occurs. The prisoners begin failing to follow the orders and rules of the jail. Prison is a harsh place for those mentally stable, and for inmates with mental problems, the atmosphere is much more difficult. For the life of most prisoners, much of the day is spent in confinement which makes the inmates already poor social cues even worse. In prison, many of

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the interactions a mentally ill inmate has with other people are often intense, as they are either with other prisoners, many of whom also suffer from a mental illness, or prison guards. Poor social conditions makes prisoners with low social awareness become even more unaware of how to correctly interact with others. After being released from prison, their psychological state is worse, not better. With this state of mental health, the patients are more likely to commit another crime, only to be re-entered into prison and the extremely poor conditions within it. The prisoners are not the only ones affected by the poor treatment for the mentally ill in prisons; taxpayers receive a blow as well. According to an estimate made by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, 80% of offenders with a severe mental illness in California were arrested multiple times, which is due in part to the poor treatment they receive in prison. This is a waste of the money which taxpayers pay to the states, since the recidivisms are avoidable. With better treatment in prison, the prisoners would leave with improved mental health as opposed to worse. This would make them much less likely to commit another crime, allowing more state tax money to be spent on resources which would benefit the taxpayers. According to an interview that NPR did with Judge Steve Leifman, one five-year period of multiple arrests of 97 mentally ill people cost the taxpayers $13 million. These are the statistics from only one jail in the country. Taxpayers are not the only ones wasting a considerable amount of money on the mentally ill prisoners; the prisons themselves find supporting these prisoners to be extremely costly. The mentally ill require more money spent on them than do prisoners with no mental illness. Medications, treatment, and the rare occasion of a counselor or therapy, as well as standard jail costs, add up fast. According to a study conducted by four academic institutions and

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Connecticuts Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, the standard amount of money spent on a mentally ill prisoner is $49,000. Mental health treatment in a psychiatric facility for one patient is only $25,000. By increasing the amount of psychiatric hospital beds and keeping the mentally ill out of prison, state prisons could save approximately $24,000 for each prisoner who would have been in the jail. The solutions to improving the treatment and decreasing the amount of mentally ill prisoners will make the prison and state systems better as a whole. By undoing the effects of deinstitutionalization, psychiatric facilities can be built to house many of the people who would have otherwise gone to a prison. This would be the most effective way to decrease the number of mentally ill inmates in prison, and would provide the patients with more adequate treatment. It is also the most difficult of solutions for states to carry out. Since many have already spent money on removing the institutions, it would be hard for them to rebuild them and get them into action again. There are smaller scale, easier, and nearly as effective solutions for prisons to utilize. By hiring staff who are trained as counselors, the mentally ill will have an outlet for their emotions in prison. These will help curb the amount of suicides and self-destruction which now occurs on a grand scale. One of the reasons why so many released prisoners which mental illnesses are arrested multiple times is because the care they did receive in prison is not continued when they leave. If jails set up treatment and help for prisoners upon their release, the prisons would be less likely to see them again. It is also important that the prisons make sure that the inmates continue receiving their medication after their release from prison.

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There is also a solution for keeping the mentally ill out of prisons in the first place. By increasing the awareness of mental illness across the nation, those with it can be more easily identified at an earlier point. In our country, many people are familiar with serious mental illnesses, but are often misled by their causes and types of effective treatments, resulting in those with the illness to be left untreated (Brooks). The longer they stay untreated, the more chance the mentally ill have to commit a crime and end up in prison. The large numbers of prison inmates who are mentally ill affect many levels of people: the prisoners themselves, the taxpayers, and the prison workers and system. All of these people get affected negatively. The prisoners need to get treatment for their mental illness, which they do not receive in prison, resulting in a deterioration of their state of mind. Taxpayers money is wasted as many of the prisoners with a mental illness get arrested many more times after being released. The jails and prisons spend much more on resources for mentally ill inmates than on those with stable mental health. By building more state psychiatric facilities, as well as educating the public about mental illness, mentally ill people across the country will have better treatment and stay out of prison.

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Works Cited Brooks, Maria A. "Jail no place for the mentally ill." The Miami Herald. Miami Herald Media, 8 Jan. 2013. Web. 3 Feb. 2013. <http://www.miamiherald.com. Editorial Board. "Mental Illness in California Prisons." The Opinion Pages. New York Times, 10 Apr. 2013. Web. 13 Apr. 2013. <http://www.nytimes.com. Glaze, Lauren E., and Doris J. James. "Mental Health Problems of Prison and Jail Inmates." Bureau of Justice Statistics. Office of Justice Programs, 6 Sept. 2006. Web. 2 Mar. 2013. <http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov. "Mental Illness, Human Rights, and US Prisons." Human Rights Watch. Human Rights Watch, 22 Sept. 2009. Web. 2 Mar. 2013. <http://www.hrw.org. NPR Staff. "Nation's Jails Struggle With Mentally Ill Prisoners." NPR. NPR, 4 Sept. 2011. Web. 3 Feb. 2013. <http://www.npr.org. Torrey, E. Fuller. "Deinstitutionalization: A Psychiatric 'Titanic.'" Frontline. WGBH Educational Foundation, n.d. Web. 2 Mar. 2013. <http://www.pbs.org. Swanson, Jeffrey. Cost of Criminal Justice Involvement among Persons with Severe Mental Illness in Connecticut. N.p.: Eli Lilly, 2011. Print.

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Annotated Bibliography Brooks, Maria A. "Jail no place for the mentally ill." The Miami Herald. Miami Herald Media, 8 Jan. 2013. Web. 3 Feb. 2013. <http://www.miamiherald.com. Focuses on the economic and mental standpoints of the problem. "COMIO-Legislative Initiatives and Documents: Incarcerated Mentally Ill: A Growing Issue In California." California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation. State of California, n.d. Web. 3 Feb. 2013. <http://www.cdcr.ca.gov. Percentages and a political standpoint on the issue, providing solid evidence. Editorial Board. "Mental Illness in California Prisons." The Opinion Pages. New York Times, 10 Apr. 2013. Web. 13 Apr. 2013. <http://www.nytimes.com. Interesting statistics on suicides, including those committed by the mentally ill, in prison. Glaze, Lauren E., and Doris J. James. "Mental Health Problems of Prison and Jail Inmates." Bureau of Justice Statistics. Office of Justice Programs, 6 Sept. 2006. Web. 2 Mar. 2013. <http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov. A few, but very important, statistics. "Mental Illness, Human Rights, and US Prisons." Human Rights Watch. Human Rights Watch, 22 Sept. 2009. Web. 2 Mar. 2013. <http://www.hrw.org. Extremely detailed and comprehensive account of all of the challenges of mentally ill prisoners. NPR Staff. "Nation's Jails Struggle With Mentally Ill Prisoners." NPR. NPR, 4 Sept. 2011. Web. 3 Feb. 2013. <http://www.npr.org. Mentions specific

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prisons from all across the nation, gives problem as well as how it's trying to be fixed. Stanek, Rich. "A jail is no place for the mentally ill." StarTribune Commentaries. StarTribune, 24 Nov. 2012. Web. 3 Feb. 2013. <http://www.startribune.com/opinion/commentaries/180438691.html?refer=y>. Tells specific anecdotes of the problems of mentally ill prisoners and gives statistics and trends. Swanson, Jeffrey. Cost of Criminal Justice Involvement among Persons with Severe Mental Illness in Connecticut. N.p.: Eli Lilly, 2011. Print. An extremely detailed report and very thorough research with statistics on mentally ill in prisons and the costs of holding them. Torrey, E. Fuller. "Deinstitutionalization: A Psychiatric 'Titanic.'" Frontline. WGBH Educational Foundation, n.d. Web. 2 Mar. 2013. <http://www.pbs.org. Information covering all aspects of deinstitutionalization, the problems, solutions, and history.