Essay on Prisoners and The Development of Severe Mental...

The vast majority of prisoners who suffer from severe mental illness are not receiving the proper mental health treatment necessary. The lack of attention allocated to the sanity of prisoners with mental illness is a haunting reality given that these people eventually return to the free world following their time in prison. Due to the punitive tendencies of the prison system, prison will likely only exacerbate peoples preexisting mental illnesses, making them susceptible to recidivism, or further engaging in criminal behavior. This paper will examine the links between the prison system’s mentality to punish rather than rehabilitate its prisoners and therefore the lack of mental health care or rehabilitation the prisons provide for inmates†¦show more content†¦This withholding of mental health treatment on the basis of the type of crime one has committed supports the hypothesis that prisons tend to prioritize punishment at the cost of denying mental ill prisoners the n ecessary rehabilitative mental health resources. The upsetting truth is that failure to properly treat mentally ill prisoners does not appear to be a matter of lacking mental health resources, but instead a refusal to use them. A statewide Florida survey of mental health screening within jails showed that although 93% of facilities reported having the tools for implementing mental illness screening, only less than half of the inmates actually had access to counseling. The authors Borum and Rand (2000) conclude that there is a gap between the mental health services jails report to offer and what they are in fact offering. The prison system’s insistence on resisting rehabilitative efforts and to instead resort to punishment as a means for prison reform comes with serious psychological consequences. In a literature review examining the effects of prison treatment on the mental health of mentally ill prisoners, Haney (2001) argues that since prison has increasingly become a place of severe punishment rather rehabilitation, mental illnesses become exacerbated. He urges that with proper knowledge of the psychological trauma imposed on prisoners, prison officials and mental health experts canShow MoreRelatedIncarceration : Cruel And Unregulated Punishment Essay907 Words   |  4 Pagesimprisonment of individuals suffering from mental illness and, or mental disability. 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