Free Essay Sample on Mental Illness in Prisons

Introduction

The rate of incarceration in developed nations such as the United States is high. Due to issues of deinstitutionalization, lack of access to mental health services, and criminalization of mental illnesses, prison facilities have become new mental hospitals for imprisoned people in America (Eldridge et al., 2011). Notably, most people with psychiatric issues do not receive the care that they require as they serve their jail term. The rising number of people with mental health disorders is worrying hence attracting different ethical and legal bodies to research the ethical issues of psychiatric conditions in the criminal justice system. Most correctional settings have some constraints on privacy and autonomy on access to health care and other resources. In effect, this poses ethical challenges and responsibilities for researchers and individuals charged with ethical oversight of research. Therefore, this identifies the ethical issues related to mental health disorders in the criminal justice system.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Sentencing Offenders with Mental Illnesses

Mental impairment makes individuals unfit to stand trial. In other cases, individuals with mental conditions may be rendered not guilty. However, in most cases, courts sentence incarcerated people to mental facilities. One of the ethical challenges facing the sentencing of offenders with mental illness is autonomy and consent. According to Konrad and Opitz-Welke (2014), incarcerated people with psychiatric disorders are vulnerable. With their rising vulnerability, people are likely to wonder whether incarcerated persons have the independency to consent or refuse a court trial or verdict. The correctional environment is highly coercive. With this in mind, independency is constrained while punishing and rehabilitating offenders. Konrad and Opitz-Welke (2014) argued that imprisoned people had limited liberty to refuse to indulge in prison activities and programs. Due to the restrictions in prison facilities, most of the rights of the people are denied. The incarcerated people with mental conditions have no much autonomy in deciding whether to get treatment or not due to the existing coercion.

Prisons hurt mental health since various factors such as overcrowding, violence, solitude, lack of privacy, isolation from social networks, and insecurity about the future are some prison characteristics that pose harmful health consequences among incarcerated people with mental illnesses. In some instances, detecting mental issues among criminals is challenging. Some prisoners do not show signs of mental disorders. In effect, they may be sent to regular prisons. The risk of suicide due to conditions such as depression manifested due to prison characteristics and most of these factors. In other circumstances, prisoners are used as dumping sites for individuals with mental conditions due to the lack of appreciation of the direct correlation existing between crime and mental conditions. Konrad and Opitz-Welke (2014) indicated that people with severe mental conditions are locked in prisons inappropriately in some nations. Mainly, this results due to the lack of mental health services to cater for the growing number of incarcerated persons with mental illnesses. Besides, people with mental illnesses are often sent to prison instead of rehabilitation, where they are likely to get treatment for the disorder.

Civil Commitment

Civil commitment in the United States is a legal intervention in which a judge and someone acting in a judicial capacity order a person with symptoms of a serious mental disorder be confined in a psychiatric center or receive outpatient treatment for a particular period (Konrad & Opitz-Welke, 2014). The law of a state provides the standards and processes for commitment. The proceedings on civil commitment should be aligned to the process protection under the state and federal law. Various legal issues face those working with offenders with mental illness. Psychiatrists working in a correctional facility have to encounter different reactions created from the imprisonment process. The function of psychiatric treatment is to maintain a prisoner in a fit state for imprisonment. Prison psychiatrists serve a pacifying function in the criminal justice system. In most cases, these individuals find themselves in an ethically and legally questionable situation if they conduct psychopharmacological and other medical interventions without a medical indication to allow judicial and penal proceedings to run effectively. Mainly, this leads to tension and conflicting demands. The doctors are bound by the Hippocratic Oath to preserve the patient’s health while also being an employee of the legal authority that grants punishment.

Ethical Issues

Ethical issues face psychiatrists who work with offenders with mental illnesses. Physicians working in prisons should not be urged to decide if a person is capable of withstanding punishment. Rather, their role is caring for a client’s mental and physical health. However, most psychiatrists are involved in punishment by supporting a prisoner’s capacity to withhold a certain punishment. Physician psychiatrists have different ethical conflicts (Eldridge et al., 2011). The ethical situation results when a physician working with an offender with mental illness testifies the acute suicidal extent of a criminal without the possibility of in-patient treatment, which means complicating or producing a traumatizing situation. Other ethical issues associated with working with offenders with mental conditions include informed consent, confidentiality, and conflict of interest. Due to their mental state, getting them to sign an informed consent is challenging. The results of the diagnosis are publicized in a court of law.

Conclusion

Crime and mental illnesses have a significant correlation. Most criminals in incarcerated facilities have an underlying mental disorder. Various ethical and legal issues affect those working with offenders with mental illnesses. Ethical factors help to determine if they are fit to stand trial or not. Doctors and physicians are bound by ethical situations that include confidentiality, conflict of interest, and informed consent. Therefore, the conclusion derived is that different legal and ethical issues face the criminal justice system and physicians treating mental conditions that influence the decisions of the courts and the treatment accorded to offenders with mental illnesses.

References

Eldridge, G. D., Johnson, M. E., Brems, C., & Corey, S. L. (2011). Ethical challenges in conducting psychiatric or mental health research in correctional settings. AJOB Primary Research, 2(4), 42–51. https://doi.org/10.1080/21507716.2011.631964

Konrad, N., & Opitz-Welke, A. (2014). The challenges of treating the mentally ill in a prison setting: The European perspective. Clinical Practice, 11(5), 517–523.
https://doi.org/10.2217/cpr.14.44