Mentally Ill Offenders

Mental health services program in conjunction with probation and parole are provided to those offenders that have been diagnosed with mental disorders. Some of these mental disorders include, but are not limited to, anxiety and major depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, or pedophilia. Anxiety disorders are behavior problems caused by fear that’s out of proportion to the danger. Examples include phobias and uncontrollable behavior. Depression is the profound or prolonged unhappiness, changes in sleeping and eating habits, frequent illness, etc. People with bipolar disorder have periods of great excitement alternating with depression. Schizophrenia causes: confused thinking, hallucinations, paranoia; periods of depression, withdrawal and isolation. Pedophilia is a paraphilia that involves an abnormal interest in children ages 13 or younger. Interventions given to mentally disordered offenders range from medication to psychotherapy, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy, inpatient and outpatient treatment among others. Although the number of defendants who are mentally ill is relatively small compare to the general population they are in much need of intensive monitoring from probation …show more content…
For example, the mental illness that interferes with the capacity of a mentally ill offender to complete their supervision requirements due to delusions, side effects from medications, or cognitive impairments. As mention before, these clients are more difficult to supervise and unpredictable at times. The benefits of supervision are that they lower the danger they present to themselves and others, reduce the risk of committing a disastrous offense after their release, and enable them to adapt better in the community (U.S. Probation & Pretrial Services Texas Northern, n.d). Probation officers have limited mental health training much of their knowledge is based on experience (Brooker & Glyn, 2012, p.