Since the age of six, Michael Megginson has been in and out of psychiatric hospitals. He has a family history of mental illness and the co-occurring substance abuse problems. His father was also mentally ill and his mother wasn’t around so Megginson lived with his great-grandmother. His mental illness escalated when his great-grandmother passed away and he was admitted to the Bronx Children’s Psychiatric Center several times during his childhood. At age 19, he attacked his mother which landed him in Rikers Island. During his parole, Megginson was enrolled in ACT, the Assertive Community Treatment Program. During his time in ACT, he was received mental health therapy along with substance abuse therapy. His stays at the mental institution weren’t
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The article mentions, “individuals like Mr. Megginson burn through resources, requiring services that jails had never been expected to provide;” the problem with jails is that there aren’t enough funding and resources for mentally illness inmates to receive the amount help they require (Winerip & Schwirtz, 2015). When Megginson was at Rikers Island his illness worsened because he was off his medication and in a more stressful environment. Since he had previous history of mental illness, Megginson should’ve been placed in a psychiatric hospital instead of jail. It was mentioned that Megginson stopped receiving his medication and that’s when the mental outbreaks started. According to the book, The Criminalization of Mental Illness, “psychotropic medications can only be prescribed by a medical doctor,” but the doctors only work part-time or as needed so medication may be delayed leading to inconsistences in medication use (Slate, Buffington-Vollum & Johnson, 2013). Budget cuts prevents jails from acquiring new medications so they often rely on cheap, outdated drugs which may come with more negative side effects. In the book, Public Health Behind Bars, Robert Greifinger suggests that medications given in prison should be similar to those in the hospitals and when inmates are moved from one area to another preparation should be made to ensure that the inmates receive the proper …show more content…
According to Best Practices for the Mentally Ill in the Criminal Justice System, if a PWMI commits a non-violent misdemeanor, the individual can be: “involuntarily committed in a facility for evaluation, referred to a treatment program, taken to a crash pad, or be arrested, booked, and taken to jail” (Walker, Pann, Shapiro & Van Hasselt, 2016). In Megginson case, he was given the last option. Prior to his imprisonment, Megginson should’ve been screened for mental disorders and substance abuse problems if any were found an “individualized treatment” can be formed (Blandford & Osher, 2013). But this is an ideal situation, the problem with this individualized approach is funding and due to the lack of funding, PWMI find themselves incarcerated instead of being treated in psychiatric facilities (“Double Jeopardy”, 1995). This creates a problem because without funding there’s cannot be individualized treatment however without treatment mental illness can worsen leading to greater costs. This can be seen with Megginson’s case, he’s been in-between mental hospitals and jails. During his stays in the hospital his condition lessened but he is released back in jail before he is fully treated. This leads to mental outbursts in jail and confrontations with the guards
The article mentions, “individuals like Mr. Megginson burn through resources, requiring services that jails had never been expected to provide;” the problem with jails is that there aren’t enough funding and resources for mentally illness inmates to receive the amount help they require (Winerip & Schwirtz, 2015). When Megginson was at Rikers Island his illness worsened because he was off his medication and in a more stressful environment. Since he had previous history of mental illness, Megginson should’ve been placed in a psychiatric hospital instead of jail. It was mentioned that Megginson stopped receiving his medication and that’s when the mental outbreaks started. According to the book, The Criminalization of Mental Illness, “psychotropic medications can only be prescribed by a medical doctor,” but the doctors only work part-time or as needed so medication may be delayed leading to inconsistences in medication use (Slate, Buffington-Vollum & Johnson, 2013). Budget cuts prevents jails from acquiring new medications so they often rely on cheap, outdated drugs which may come with more negative side effects. In the book, Public Health Behind Bars, Robert Greifinger suggests that medications given in prison should be similar to those in the hospitals and when inmates are moved from one area to another preparation should be made to ensure that the inmates receive the proper …show more content…
According to Best Practices for the Mentally Ill in the Criminal Justice System, if a PWMI commits a non-violent misdemeanor, the individual can be: “involuntarily committed in a facility for evaluation, referred to a treatment program, taken to a crash pad, or be arrested, booked, and taken to jail” (Walker, Pann, Shapiro & Van Hasselt, 2016). In Megginson case, he was given the last option. Prior to his imprisonment, Megginson should’ve been screened for mental disorders and substance abuse problems if any were found an “individualized treatment” can be formed (Blandford & Osher, 2013). But this is an ideal situation, the problem with this individualized approach is funding and due to the lack of funding, PWMI find themselves incarcerated instead of being treated in psychiatric facilities (“Double Jeopardy”, 1995). This creates a problem because without funding there’s cannot be individualized treatment however without treatment mental illness can worsen leading to greater costs. This can be seen with Megginson’s case, he’s been in-between mental hospitals and jails. During his stays in the hospital his condition lessened but he is released back in jail before he is fully treated. This leads to mental outbursts in jail and confrontations with the guards