Treatment for mentally ill criminals is an extremely reactionary process, as even experts cannot completely tell how a mentally ill person will react to certain environments. It is important to mold and diversify treatment and relationships to each patient differently to achieve the most successful results as possible. For this reason, there are a variety of individuals who interact with mentally ill criminals on a daily basis to make the rehabilitation process as speedy as possible. Police teams initially diagnose mentally ill criminals and send them to hospitals or jails and prisons; mental health professionals and correctional officers spend countless hours with them on the inside; parole and probation teams continue the process if those
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Medications are given in an amount that varies from patient to patient, based on what kind of disease they suffer from, and the severity of each disease. Medications are not a cure themselves, but are seen as the first wave, and most basic form of treatment. They are very important because they can help initially ameliorate symptoms and start recovery for many mentally ill patients. Medication is integral to mental illness treatment, as it allows mentally ill patients to properly function, but it also helps patients make strides through proper social interaction. This process of keeping the mentally ill busy during their treatment gives them a sense of achievement in their lives, and a coping mechanism through a different form of daily stimulus. Therefore, medication alone is not always the most productive form of rehabilitation, as it sometimes must be paired with social interaction and chores to yield the greatest …show more content…
For example, in a study of a juvenile facility, females tended to occupy a slightly higher percentage of incarcerated juveniles than males did. Therefore, there needs to be some fundamental changes in how juveniles with mental illnesses are treated compared to how female juveniles with mental illnesses are treated. “Challenges to establishing adequate care and nurturing of incarcerated adolescents [and adults] must never hinder the provision of vital resources that will sustain their growth both while incarcerated and when integrating into society” (page 368). This also may have to extend to the treatment of adult males and females suffering from mental illness as well, for there are clearly some differences in frequency and behavior between the two genders. In addition, many mental health experts do not have a long term relationship with most inmates, as they may be passed on to different professionals multiple times. As stated earlier, this proves to be extremely inefficient because patients incarcerated for a long period of time constantly have to start over with new professionals. Professionals also shy away from vocational counseling, and the lack of this type of counseling is concerning, as this method has been seen to drastically help recovery and personal growth
Medications are given in an amount that varies from patient to patient, based on what kind of disease they suffer from, and the severity of each disease. Medications are not a cure themselves, but are seen as the first wave, and most basic form of treatment. They are very important because they can help initially ameliorate symptoms and start recovery for many mentally ill patients. Medication is integral to mental illness treatment, as it allows mentally ill patients to properly function, but it also helps patients make strides through proper social interaction. This process of keeping the mentally ill busy during their treatment gives them a sense of achievement in their lives, and a coping mechanism through a different form of daily stimulus. Therefore, medication alone is not always the most productive form of rehabilitation, as it sometimes must be paired with social interaction and chores to yield the greatest …show more content…
For example, in a study of a juvenile facility, females tended to occupy a slightly higher percentage of incarcerated juveniles than males did. Therefore, there needs to be some fundamental changes in how juveniles with mental illnesses are treated compared to how female juveniles with mental illnesses are treated. “Challenges to establishing adequate care and nurturing of incarcerated adolescents [and adults] must never hinder the provision of vital resources that will sustain their growth both while incarcerated and when integrating into society” (page 368). This also may have to extend to the treatment of adult males and females suffering from mental illness as well, for there are clearly some differences in frequency and behavior between the two genders. In addition, many mental health experts do not have a long term relationship with most inmates, as they may be passed on to different professionals multiple times. As stated earlier, this proves to be extremely inefficient because patients incarcerated for a long period of time constantly have to start over with new professionals. Professionals also shy away from vocational counseling, and the lack of this type of counseling is concerning, as this method has been seen to drastically help recovery and personal growth