Special Offenders

Vin Sharma

CJA/234

4/24/2014
Keone Thomas

Special Offenders

Definition According to “(Prison Glossary)” Offenders whose mental and/or physical condition requires special accommodation by DOC employees, contract workers, or volunteers. Special needs offenders may include, but are not limited to, drug or alcohol addicts or abusers, the emotionally disturbed, mentally retarded, suspected mentally ill, physically handicapped, chronically ill, the disabled or infirm, those with documented custody issues and those with limited academic ability or learning disability “(Prison Glossary)”. With that being said there are many special needs prisoners, one that many people are familiar with are the mentally ill, and substance abusing. There are many other illnesses then obvious ones, some prisoners have physical problems, others have infectious diseases like HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis, while some have serious substance abuse issues. One special offender no one thinks about is the elderly offenders in 2007 over ten percent of inmates in prisons were 50 years or older and many with serious health problems.

Mentally ill and substance abusing prisoners In this paper I will be discussing the two common types of special needs offenders, the mentally ill and the substance abusing offenders. Among the prison population there are mentally ill prisoners, special needs offenders, and substance-abusing offenders. These special offenders affect the jail and prison systems at state and federal levels because they require special attention. If they do not receive special attention like doctor supervision or prescribed medication, they can harm themselves or others, and become sick from substance related illnesses. Mentally ill offenders must have access to mental health therapies, psychotropic medications, and types of special offenders need to be separated from the rest of the prison population to prevent them from hurting other inmates. They also must be monitored at all times so they do not harm themselves. Substance abusing offenders require a variety of drug treatment programs, specialized medical care for drug-related illnesses, and mental health treatment as well. Prison security must ensure that substance-abusing inmates to not gain access to drugs in prison. Substance-abusing and mentally ill inmates have a higher chance of reoffending when they are released from prison or jail. Rehabilitation programs are lacking in the mentally ill category, therefore mentally ill prisoners usually return to prison time after time. Tragically, most of those instances of incarceration are unnecessary. These prisoners have become a great expense at both state and federal level due to their special needs. Special needs inmates affect state and federal prison systems because it costs them more money to care for these inmates and their needs. Special facilities have to be built to house these inmates, which can cost millions of dollars. The cost of medication and psychiatric help for mentally ill and substance abusing prisoners cost the state a lot of money. According to (Schmalleger & Smykla, 2009,). There are nearly eight times as many mentally ill people in prisons and jails than there are in mental hospitals. The three largest facilities in the United States that offer psychiatric treatment are the Cook County Jail in Chicago, Rikers Island in New York City, and the Los Angeles County Jail in California. It is estimated that Los Angeles County Jail spends $10,000,000 a year just on psychiatric medication for its inmates (Schmalleger & Smykla, 2009,).

Untreated mentally ill If these special offenders are not cared for properly then they will commit grave crimes, so managing mentally ill offenders in prison is a start but it is also a difficult challenge. These offenders are not deterred by typical punishment, since the early 80’s; over 63 people with some sort of mental illness have been executed in the US. Study shows that almost all inmates on Death Row show signs of brain damage due to illness or trauma. It is known mentally ill people have difficulties comprehending directions given by the authorities. Most likely the mentally ill person will return to prison time and time again.

Special Offenders Program A prison in Seattle Washington (Monroe Correctional Complex) has introduced a new program for its mentally ill inmates in solitary confinement. The Prison has The Intensive Management Unit or IMU for short where the most dangerous and violent criminals are held inaccessible, with no contact with others except for the random guard. One study found about 45 percent of offenders in Washington's IMU have serious mental illness or traumatic brain injuries (Hansen, 2010). This new system at IMU uses unit social communication adjustment classes to move criminals out of solitary and back in with other criminals. This new system is attempting "pro-social" method that will help with transition of the criminals reasoning treatment in a group class setting. The criminals assemble in a class room along with other offenders chained to their desk in front of them sits a paper display of different emotional state. The behavioral therapy classes focus on controlling emotions in different situations so these offenders can change the way they react to difficult situations. It is too early to tell what type of long term affect this sort of program will have on the prisoners at Monroe. The Special Offender Unit opened in 1981 it has a Population of 144 offenders and accepts inmates who have mental health issues. It has a long term treatment for chronically mentally ill and intensive treatment for segregated inmates needing mental health treatment.

References:

Schmalleger, F. & Smykla, J. (2009). Corrections in the 21st Century (4th Ed.). New York, NY: McGraw Hill.

Hansen, B. (2010). New treatment for mentally ill in solitary confinement at Monroe prison. Retrieved from http://seattletimes.com/html/picturethis/2022085246_reintegrationformentallyillinsolitaryconfinementatmonroeprison.html

Richard P. Seiter. (2011). Corrections: An Introduction, Third Edition. Retrieved from Richard P. Seiter, CJA/234 website.