Assignment:
100 words 1 reference
Cases of mentally ill inmates in correctional facilities have become prevalent, which in turn calls for plans and implementation of preventive and diversionary policies and programs by the criminal justice system. Prisons rarely provide the necessary treatment for these inmates, which aggravates the prevailing social marginalization and disrupts treatments and linkage to service systems (Navasky& O'Conner, 2005). Therefore, the criminal justice system must consider all these factors before ruling on whether a mentally unwell offender should be moved to prison or a mental facility.
The criminal justice system can design specialized programs that divert inmates with mental illnesses from being in contact with law enforcement, courts, and corrections. This system can also offer opportunities for diagnosis of mental illnesses in offenders and give opportunities for therapies and treatment, allowing them to be taken to correctional facilities after they have recovered.
The most shocking issue in the film is how mentally ill inmates are denied parole due to their misconduct (Navasky& O'Conner, 2005). Instead, the government and criminal justice system should create and develop programs where these inmates can get mental help and efficiently reenter their communities.
The criminal justice system and mental health policymakers should increase access to treatment services in correctional facilities. Further, early identification and treatment of concurrent substance abuse disorders and mental illnesses can help deter incidences of criminality, which can reduce the number of people charged in courts while mentally unwell.
Correctional facilities are becoming the new asylums due to several reasons. First, mental illnesses are usually associated with criminality, which explains why most mentally ill people have encountered law enforcement officers leading to arrests and sentencing (Navasky& O'Conner, 2005). Secondly, mentally ill ex-offenders may discontinue their medication when released and fall back to criminal activities, which leads to them being taken back to prisons. Thus, the high number of mentally ill people in correctional facilities who instead could have been taken to mental facilities and provided with the necessary treatment.