Essay Example on Correctional System: Management, Handling & Psychology

A correctional system is a group of organizations that manage a dominion's prisons, and society based programs such as probation boards, and conditional release. This system is a section of the bigger criminal justice structure, which as well includes courts, prosecution and police. Correctional psychology is the solicitation of elementary and pragmatic psychological science or scientifically oriented proficient rehearsal to the integrity system to assist the proper management, handling, and classification of the wrongdoers. This paper analyzes a problem that is related to correctional psychology in the U.S. correctional structure, how the problem might be fixed, and how the solution might fail to work towards the problem.

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The problem being addressed is a mental illness; it involves a wide are of mental health conditions such as bipolar disorder, depression, schizophrenia, and anxiety disorders. A study done by the Bureau of Justice states that most inmates in the U.S. have mental problems. There are about 2.3 million individuals locked behind bars in the United States, and this makes the U.S. be with the most significant prison population. Out of these 203 million people, 1.25 million inmates suffer from mental ailment (Smyer & Burbank, 2009).

Mental illness is related to correctional psychology because professionals say that if correct mental health treatment is observed, numerous incarcerations can be circumvented. Some offenders are incarcerated for avoidable, minor crimes such as lack of necessary treatment, and homelessness. When lawbreakers with the mental ailment are placed in solitary confinement, their mental health becomes even worse, and they become more prone to other risks (Smyer & Burbank, 2009). Mentally ill offenders are reported to be more abused by the correctional staff and their fellow inmates. The offenders with mental illness are not released on bond, nor are they sent to treatment centers, but they end up spending most of their time in jails while waiting for trials. This practice makes their illness to deteriorate further and also leads to disturbing cycle motion. If the inmates are not given the right care, they endure painful symptoms, and they become aggrieved with hallucinations, delusion, uncontrollable mood swings, and debilitating fears. This makes them have many thoughts, such as suicide thoughts, mumbling incoherently, and banging their heads against the wall, which can eventually lead to deaths. A source on the real-world example about the problem is the article Offenders with Mental Illness in the Correctional System by Maureen L. O'keefee MA, and Marissa J. Schnell B.A. (O'keefe, & Schnell, 2007). The article covers how metal illness in prisons has formed exceptional tasks for correctional systems, and how these offenders with mental illness suffer due to lack of proper care. It is not good for the article to cover up the problem because the world will never know the truth, and these inmates will continue to suffer more, and they will not receive justice.

A solution to help the mentally ill offenders is by giving them proper care. The correctional officers should not mistreat them due to their disability, but they should be given a chance to interact with other people freely without being confined (Adams, & Ferrandino, 2008). Also, as they wait for trials, the judges should release them on bail and send them to treatment centers where they can be taken care of as their behavioral actions are observed.

Problems that might arise in the future due to this solution is that some of these individuals suffer severe mental illness, and it might become hard to control them. The solution might fail because these offenders might get a chance to evade away from prisons and run away. This will leave their cases open, and they might go and commit crimes somewhere else, knowing that they will be taken to treatment centers and not in jail.

References

Adams, K., & Ferrandino, J. (2008). Managing mentally ill inmates in prisons. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 35(8), 913-927. Retrieved from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0093854808318624

O'keefe, M. L., & Schnell, M. J. (2007). Offenders with mental illness in the correctional system. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 45(1-2), 81-104. Retrieved from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1300/J076v45n01_08

Smyer, T., & Burbank, P. M. (2009). The U.S. correctional system and the older prisoner. Journal of gerontological nursing, 35(12), 32-37. Retrieved from https://www.healio.com/nursing/journals/jgn/2009-12-35-12/%7B9017a0de-c611-435b-8898-2d7f7223a1e2%7D/the-us-correctional-system-and-the-older-prisoner