Title: (wait till the end)
“America’s prisons have become warehouses for the severely mentally ill”- Dahlia Lithwick
The institutionalization of mental health care programs has resulted in a high number of mentally ill people ending up incarcerated without receiving the treatment they require due to the fewer funds provided by the government for the proper facilities needed. Dorathea Dix fought for the establishment of psychiatric hospitals. Due to budget cuts and changes in administration, the funds for psychiatric hospitals have decrease, limiting the amount of people that receive treatment and increasing the amount of people in prisons. Some critics claim that its the miscommunication between the public health departments and the criminal …show more content…
Professor Carol A. B. Warren, argues that “The Act and its revisions were designed to tighten requirements for involuntary civil commitment and provide community mental health care alternatives” (1-2). This act made it more difficult to involuntary hospitalize people. Deanna Pan, a writer for Mother Jones, claims that the number of mentally ill people in the criminal justice system doubled nearly one year after The LPS Act started to go into effect. The act sets up guidelines that help control the involuntary commitment of people to mental health hospitals. Through this act they medically evaluated each individual before they entered these psychiatric hospitals. If they appeared to be mentally ill, then they would receive the treatment necessary for them. The ruling of the the LPS Act made it even more difficult on those with mental health issues to receive the help they may need. The unconsciousness of a mentally ill person could prevent them form voluntarily advocating for their own health, they might not even be aware of their own health condition. In addition, the act prevents other people from aiding those who are mentally ill in seeking the medical treatment necessary. That results in a lot of mentally disabled people not receiving the adequate treatment they acquire, increasing the chances of them committing senseless crimes. Ultimately, it comes down to the authorities to …show more content…
This OBR Act of 1981 basically contradicted what Jimmy Carter’s motives were. Ronald Reagan decided to pass this act so that the funding for mental health would decrease. It prevented the states from receiving grants and also stopped the government from accommodating the mentally ill, resulting in a 30% decrease of money being spent. (Pan). With the reduction of mental health serviced due to the funding being cut, those with mental illnesses were not receiving the proper treatment. The budget for mental health decreased because of the OBR Act of 1981, but redirected fund towards his declaration of the War On Drugs. Regan’s proclamation on the War On Drugs was so that the nation could become more secure in regards to drug control. During his two terms, there was an estimated $4.3 billion dollars annually on this dilemma (Bruce Michael Bagley). By ramping up the War on Drugs, he expanded the number of people in law enforcement. By expanding the number of law enforcement, they managed to control the drug epidemic more. But, Bagley affirms that “Law enforcement agencies were overworked, underfunded, often outgunned, increasingly demoralized and plagued with corruption.” (1990). The corruption, the anger of these over worked law enforcement officers could have added to the high volume of people being arrested. Furthermore, with less mental