Mentally Ill Offenders

Introduction
Mental illness in prisons has been sort of a pandemic for correctional systems in the United States for over the last 10 years. The number of men and women who come to prison with some form of mental illness continues to grow by the day. Offenders who do not come to prison mentally ill, will most likely release from prison with some type of mental illness at the end of their prison sentence. This paper will discuss how this population of offenders adapts when they come to prison, and how there viewed by the community. This will be examined here along with some insights on what should be done along with why this topic was chosen.
Schizophrenia
Many mentally ill offenders come to prison with a variety of disorders schizophrenia, manic depression (bi-polar) or major depression (Schizophrenia.com - Crime, Poverty Violence., n.d.). Schizophrenic inmates probably account for the largest segment of offenders who enter the correctional system every day and have a difficult time adapting to the confines of a correctional environment. By definition schizophrenia is an inability to think, process emotions where people tend to behave in an unacceptable manner because their mind is not able to react to the stimuli from every day life; the name schizophrenia comes from the Greek root "split mind" (Skitzophrenia., n.d.). Hallucinations, hearing voices, paranoia are just some of the symptoms exhibited by mentally ill offenders. These issues will many times keep offenders from acting in a rational manner, causing them to overreact to situations that for people who have no mental illness handle just fine. Schizophrenia is a disorder that can be treated with medications in most instances. When left untreated however a schizophrenic can have hallucinations, delusions, and exhibit bizarre behavior.
Problems Mentally ill face in Prison
Many people who come to prison with a mental illness will ultimately find themselves living in precisely the conditions, which can make or contribute to their condition worsening. Conditions can be like segregated isolation, where offenders may live in a cell by themselves without much if any interaction with other people due to their disruptive behavior exhibited in population settings. The paranoia and hallucinations are often made worse if they are living in cells with up to 3 offenders, where privacy is virtually non-existent, cells are crowded, containing toilet fixtures with no privacy and no place for the few personal items that are allowed to be retained (Brichford, C., 2009). Many people come to prison after being homeless or where they are used to having their privacy. Trying to adapt to prison life for a mentally ill person can become very challenging. Dealing with hallucinations, paranoia; they must deal with the added stress of living with strange and sometimes dangerous people. Mentally ill inmates who feel like they are cornered may react, in most of the time violently to what they might think as a threat to their safety and security or what the voices in their head tell them to do. Prison Housing for the Mentally Ill
Offenders who routinely commit violent acts towards others are often placed into segregated housing units. They will live in a four by six foot cell, with a bunk, mattress, bedding, and some hygiene and personal products, offenders are isolated from other people with no contact. Very short interactions with the guards are only on an as needed basis. This may be for such activities as being taken to yard, or showers. Interactions with other offenders are limited to the conversation you can have yelling back and forth. Spending a large amount of time alone in isolation has proven to be negative for almost any person whether mentally ill or not. For those who are not mentally ill, they will surely develop some form of mental illness by the time they are through with prison or living in segregation for a long period of time. For those who already are mentally ill, they only become worse. Mentally ill offenders that are in isolation, will only magnifying the hallucinations and the paranoia they already have. The danger changes from harming others to harming themselves. Suicidal and self harming behavior, cutting on oneself, chewing chunks of flesh from their arms, banging their head on the wall to make the voices stop. These are just some of the behaviors the mentally ill will face if not treated properly and services are not provided. Funding for the Mentally Ill Services for the mentally ill is usually dependent on the resources that are available in treating them. For many prison systems this is little. On average it costs prisons $20, 000 a year to house an inmate (Muraskin, R., 2009). This does not account for the additional costs associated with housing mentally ill offenders who require specialized housing (Sigurdson, C., 2000). Prisons are meant to be a punishment, not a mental health treatment facility, even though they have been playing the role that more and more correctional systems are taking on without the needed funding. Prisons depend on funding and resources from the community. The problem with depending on the community is that it lacks funding itself and what funding they do have is dedicated to those who are not locked up. Poor Treatment
As stated by Sigurdson, C. (2000), "Some state medical boards issue licenses restricted to work in corrections. Previously impaired physicians who are considered too unsafe to practice in the community are given licenses to practice in prisons and jails". This speaks to a degree the position and value some states place on treating the mentally ill.
With ten to twenty percent of many these budgets are already accounting for the medical and healthcare in prisons. Budget cuts that the states are already experiencing suffer as does funding for many of these basic services. The cost of medications needed to effectively treat many of these disorders has become so high, that many correctional systems have stopped using them or opt for medications that are less effective in treating offenders properly. Services then become limited to the basics required by law: screening within a set amount of time usually one to two weeks; examination and risk assessments; addressing symptoms and addressing mental health emergencies that are of life threatening nature (Brichford, C., 2009).
There are at least 200,000 people out of 600,000 homeless who suffer from some form or mental illness (Schizophrenia.com - Crime, Poverty Violence., n.d.). Many of these people may have come from a loving home. Being that there is a decline in resources available, many of these people have ended up on the streets, jobless, addicted to drugs or alcohol by attempting to cope with their conditions. Mental health services have been closing mental health facilities and the reliance on health care insurance to address the needs of those who require treatments necessary in order to enable them to function properly in society on a normal level. Since not all insurance plans are treated the same, the fact remains that most treatment for mental illness is done on an outpatient system, it is not intense enough to bring those who have become unstable stable (Sigurdson, C., 2000).
Early History
Early in our history, the mentally ill were frequently locked up in prisons. In the 1960's there were a lot of mental facilities in operation and the number of mentally ill locked in prisons was not so prevalent. We as a society have seemed to have taken several steps back and returned to the practice of locking up the mentally ill up in prison while closing mental facilities over the years. This is reflective of a change in position by society as to how the mentally ill should be treated or strictly a result of no available funding remains to be seen. Currently many correctional facilities are working diligently with the communities to try to bridge some of the gaps, and making continuity of treatment a priority in an attempt to minimize those from coming to prison. Lack of Treatment
An example that demonstrates the lack of treatment available is in a case where an offender signed papers to be committed to a mental health facility. But on the day he intended to do this there were no vacancies. Struggling with what to do, and not coping well with his illness, he went into the forest and hung himself, only to be found a week later, ironically that same time a vacancy occurred that would have allowed his admittance (Bazelon, D. L., n.d.). Another example is when offenders who are picked up on a violation are sanctioned to time in a prison; arrive under the influence of drugs; they are de-toxed, treated for their condition and released from prison with a limited supply of medication, referrals and resources to services that usually are not obtainable by the offender (Sigurdson, C., 2000). Cases like this are repeated far too often and evidence as to where on the social scale these poor people sit on.
Though many of the offenders locked up in isolation are there due to their behavior in population, i.e. assaults, fights, or the threats they present to the population within the prison. These offenders are not without some form of mental illness. And for those who do not exhibit signs of mental illness at the beginning of an IMS (Intensive Management Status) program, usually develop them before they leave. Isolation is necessary in ensuring those who cause harm to other cannot do so, but comes at the expense of creating something far worse. Conclusion And Personal Perspective
I believe that mentally ill offenders need to have the care necessary to enable them to function on a level that will allow them to live among other offenders. Prisons are negative enough without further negativity being imparted on offenders by housing them in isolation for what really amounts to their mental illness. Communities need to step up to the plate, and be ready to accept offenders who have completed their debt to society for their crimes back into those communities. Prisons are for punishment not the mentally ill. Mental illness is a reality that must be accepted by society and accounted for by providing the necessary treatment facilities and assistance to keep these people from becoming offenders in the first place. Or they will always resort to what gets them by, drugs, alcohol, or the commission of a new crime, knowing that once they are again sent to a correctional facility, they will receive the treatment they need and want. I have two children with mental illness that I care for; it is very hard to get the proper help with healthcare for my sons. I had to wait until my son ran away numerous of times and tried to kill himself numerous of times before I got the right services to help him. My son got bullied and picked on because he could not control it. Insurance companies will cover him but his monthly rate was at three hundred dollars a month. So now we have to wait for social security to help him. No one should have to go through all this to get treatment because you are mentally ill. There are so many resources out there available to you and you have to do a major investigation in order to what is suitable for you.

References
Bazelon, D. L. (n.d.). People with Serious Mental Illnesses in Jail and Prison: Their Stories. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law -- Advocating for the Civil Rights and Human Dignity of People with Mental Disabilities. Retrieved March 27, 2012, from http://www.bazelon.org/issues/criminalization/factsheets /criminal2.html
Brichford, C. (2009). Schizophrenia and Legal Issues - Schizophrenia Center – EverydayHealth.com. Health Information, Resources, Tools & News Online – EverydayHealth.com. Retrieved March 26, 2012, from http://www.everydayhealth.com/schizophrenia/schizophrenia-and-legal- issues.aspx
Muraskin, R. (2009). Key Correctional Issues (2nd Edition) (2 ed.). Alexandria, VA: Prentice Hall.
Schizophrenia.com - Crime, Poverty Violence. (n.d.). Schizophrenia.com, In depth Schizophrenia Information and Support. Retrieved March 27, 2010, from http://www.schizophrenia.com/poverty.htm

Skitzophrenia. (n.d.) Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine. (2008). Retrieved March 24 2012 from http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Skitzophrenia
Sigurdson, C. (2000). The mad the bad and the abandoned: The mentally ill in prisons and jails. Corrections Today, 62(7), 70-78. Retrieved March 25, 2012, from Criminal Justice Periodicals. (Document ID:65167372).