Prison and jail’s are ill equipped to deal with the ever growing number of mentally ill prisoners that society has shunned. Living in a 4X8 room day after day, week after week, and month after month takes a toll on even the healthiest of inmates. Stopping this form of torture is not up to the jails, police and courts, their hands are tied. These inmates need compassion and a way to deal with their demons that only first hand medical services can provide. Adam Gopnik a writer for the New Yorker and article author of “The Caging of America” argues and I agree “how is it that our civilization, which rejects hanging and flogging and disembowelling, came to believe that caging vast numbers of people for decades is acceptable humane sanctions?”
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I agree that the use of solitary confinement should be used as a tool to keep inmates from harming themselves and others. Without bed opening’s in mental health wards across the United States, more and more guards and jailers are left with the uneducated duty of dealing with sick and mentally ill inmates. One of the ways they must deal with the confused and often dangerous individuals is to isolate them. According to Gopnik “we like to lock them up and forget about their existence.” (Gopnik, 5) Similar to the way a parent may discipline a child by imposing a time out in the corner for misbehaving. The difference being the inmates punishment could go on for months at a time, and without proper medication and treatment the misbehaved inmate can not begin their own recovery or for that matter, see a future ahead, other than a lonesome 4X8 jail cell.
According to Henry J Steadman research author of “Prevalence of Serious Mental Illness Among Jail Inmates”, jail inmates have a higher rate of mental illness. Women are 6X more likely and men are 4.5X more likely to suffer from a serious mental illness than the general population (qtd. in Glazer 244). Washington state is one of the 28 states who increased spending on mental health services in fiscal year 2015, that is seven fewer than in 2014 according to the state mental health legislation …show more content…
The 2014 year end summary report showed that each veteran who is deemed eligible for the treatment program is screened early, and must volunteer to take part in the program. There has been a total of 29 referrals from the veterans therapeutic court since April 2011 with a total of 25 graduates through 2014. Within the veterans therapeutic court report one of the tools used in treatment is camaraderie. As the 2014 Clark County Washington summary report indicate’s each branch of the military has their own culture, their own language, code of conduct and rules (wolf 5). The courts use this veterans way of life, as a tool to help of todays treatment of substance abuse and mental illness. I can speak from experience when I say that the bond between most service members is closeness, a form of brotherly love not normally found within most of todays society. We all have our so called “skeletons in the Closet”, after completing 3 years of recovery in 2012, and bouncing back and forth throughout the Clark County courts, I can say with certainty the help of the Veterans Administration, Substance Abuse and Treatment Program (SATP) and the brotherhood I feel with other veterans has helped in battles I faced during recovery and within the judicial
I agree that the use of solitary confinement should be used as a tool to keep inmates from harming themselves and others. Without bed opening’s in mental health wards across the United States, more and more guards and jailers are left with the uneducated duty of dealing with sick and mentally ill inmates. One of the ways they must deal with the confused and often dangerous individuals is to isolate them. According to Gopnik “we like to lock them up and forget about their existence.” (Gopnik, 5) Similar to the way a parent may discipline a child by imposing a time out in the corner for misbehaving. The difference being the inmates punishment could go on for months at a time, and without proper medication and treatment the misbehaved inmate can not begin their own recovery or for that matter, see a future ahead, other than a lonesome 4X8 jail cell.
According to Henry J Steadman research author of “Prevalence of Serious Mental Illness Among Jail Inmates”, jail inmates have a higher rate of mental illness. Women are 6X more likely and men are 4.5X more likely to suffer from a serious mental illness than the general population (qtd. in Glazer 244). Washington state is one of the 28 states who increased spending on mental health services in fiscal year 2015, that is seven fewer than in 2014 according to the state mental health legislation …show more content…
The 2014 year end summary report showed that each veteran who is deemed eligible for the treatment program is screened early, and must volunteer to take part in the program. There has been a total of 29 referrals from the veterans therapeutic court since April 2011 with a total of 25 graduates through 2014. Within the veterans therapeutic court report one of the tools used in treatment is camaraderie. As the 2014 Clark County Washington summary report indicate’s each branch of the military has their own culture, their own language, code of conduct and rules (wolf 5). The courts use this veterans way of life, as a tool to help of todays treatment of substance abuse and mental illness. I can speak from experience when I say that the bond between most service members is closeness, a form of brotherly love not normally found within most of todays society. We all have our so called “skeletons in the Closet”, after completing 3 years of recovery in 2012, and bouncing back and forth throughout the Clark County courts, I can say with certainty the help of the Veterans Administration, Substance Abuse and Treatment Program (SATP) and the brotherhood I feel with other veterans has helped in battles I faced during recovery and within the judicial