Exactly half of the prisoners in the U.S. have mental health issues, states a 2006 Justice Department Study. Through my research I have found that jails and prisons are without a doubt considered to be new mental health facilities for those with mental illnesses. There is a high percentage of people who suffer from mental illnesses in prisons and jails, which has caused a ripple effect in taxation. The problem that arises from incarcerating people with mental illness for petty crimes, is that the money could be used more effectively.
Due to how mental health illnesses have been treated in the past, appropriate and effective use of screenings and facilities shows to have more success with helping those with mental illnesses. Why is this a problem?
For example a 47 year old man with bipolar disorder, he hears voices and has been arrested five times since October because of petty offenses such as loitering, and is most recently serving time because of his refusal to leave a Laundromat. (New York Times). According to the National Alliance of Mental Illness, one in four adults here in the U.S. experience serious mental health issues such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depression. The United States leads the developed world in incarceration with over two million people in jail or prison. According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association, fifteen to twenty percent of U.S. inmates have severe psychiatric disorders. The New
Due to how mental health illnesses have been treated in the past, appropriate and effective use of screenings and facilities shows to have more success with helping those with mental illnesses. Why is this a problem?
For example a 47 year old man with bipolar disorder, he hears voices and has been arrested five times since October because of petty offenses such as loitering, and is most recently serving time because of his refusal to leave a Laundromat. (New York Times). According to the National Alliance of Mental Illness, one in four adults here in the U.S. experience serious mental health issues such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depression. The United States leads the developed world in incarceration with over two million people in jail or prison. According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association, fifteen to twenty percent of U.S. inmates have severe psychiatric disorders. The New