The Release: Film Analysis

Superior Essays
In the Frontline documentary The Release, cameras capture the life of inmates with mental illness inside Ohio’s state prison system. The camaras filmed testimonies from mentally ill inmates, their recount of why they’re in prison, what they believe prison is doing positive and negatively for them. The documentary also portrays how mentally ill people are being treated by the prison wardens, and lengths to which they are force to proceed in order to control an inmate when they’re not behaving or following orders. There are glimpses to how mentally ill inmates have mental/therapeutic evaluations. With the quantity of testimonies Michael Shreeves who was arrested for aggravated robbery stood out. Shreeves was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, …show more content…
The nurse diagnosed Bankston as having a psychotic episode. Bankston was given medication, and is under consideration to being transferred to another prison where he can be restrained. Eric Widdowson the nurse at the Ohio prison explained that Bankston isn’t always compliant to take his medication, and then he decided to stop talking them completely. In the notes taken in class about schizophrenia and psychotic behavior Bankston characterizes both symptoms, he’s hallucinating, has self-care dysfunction (bangs his head on the wall). In the prison it was much easier to control him by using force and leaving him powerless, to which he had no control of the situation because he was restraint by multiple officers. It was expressed that apparently its normal for mental ill people to stop taking their medication in prison, they start getting sick, that results in them believing it was due to the medicine they had been prescribed and start distrusting people. We talked about mentally ill in the classroom and when they start to mistrus people it isn’t easy to gain their trust back and the medication for them isn’t an option anymore. I was confused as to why Bankston was naked and the officers were using brutality and force as I had stated when it is only one person. I think they should have allowed for Bankston to cool down first, and then access his behavior and go from there. Beven expressed that a mentally ill person will not comply at first but will later comply to

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