Your Name
Soc 101
Memo 1
March 26, 2012
Frontline “The New Asylums”
In this video, Frontline discuss the high number of the mentally ill that are incarcerated in prison. Looking at Ohio’s correctional system the video attempts to claim many of societies criminals are mentally ill. While the video does show there is a problem in the prison system with mentally ill inmates not receiving the required help that they need it doesn’t touch on the point that the majority of those inmates are trying to work the system. Alternatively, the inmate is attempting to get away with the crime based on a defense of mental illness.
As a former Deputy Jailor with a Sheriff’s Department with 5 years experience I have first hand knowledge of the penal system. The jail I worked at could house any type of inmate for up to ten years. We served some inmates who did have a lifetime sentence but they would only be at our facility for ten years or less. I had a variety of responsibilities while I was there to include: dispensing medication, having one on one contact, and extractions from cells when an inmate failed to comply with directions. The majority of the inmates received medication many of which would never take these medicines when released. A great majority of these meds were for mental illness. The majority of those who received such medication were quite functional, and compliant to jail directives. These inmates were choosing to follow directives, which had nothing to do with the medication. I’ve seen these men follow jail directives only when it was beneficial to them personally. As a great deal of privileges are based on good behavior this prompts inmates to behave. However, if the inmate did not get what he wanted he would often threaten suicide. At times when an inmate would get into a fight with a deputy they would blame it on bi-polar disorder but had no incidents for a year prior. Another behavior I would see in the jail is inmates acting ‘mental’ in an attempt to be sent to the State Mental Hospital. The hospital has privileges that are not permitted in the jail. Inmates at the hospital may smoke cigarettes, have better food, more recreation, a better jail store (canteen), and more friendly behavior from staff. In my work experience inmates would behavior in a manner to have them sent to the state hospital. Hospital staff would quickly identify them as mentally stable and send them back in a short time frame. This yo-yo effect of misbehavior, punishment, and finally sending the inmate to the hospital would be a pattern for several inmates.
Frontline did a subtle job of exposing inmates that were playing at being ill. However, they never stated that inmates could abuse the system. There were a few inmates Frontline focused on that exposed this line of behavior. For example the inmate that tried to defend his ‘spitting on a deputy’ as being related to his bi-polar disorder. Frontline did share that the inmate was held responsible for his actions but did not suggest that inmates would ‘cry wolf’ or rather ‘cry bi-polar disorder’ as it suits them. Frontline hints that inmates would purposely disrupt or act deviant in an attempt to be sent to the state mental health prison.
On the other hand, the inmate Jacoba Lewis would not follow jail directives for years. This finally landed him in the state mental health jail. The video shows a radically transformed inmate after arriving at the hospital. We are not given enough information to determine if his behavior is a true mental illness but what little we can glean is that he is truly ill. The 13 years he spent incarcerated beyond his release date proves he is incapable of proper behavior without proper medication and mental health treatment. In conclusion, while Frontline did highlight a true problem in society, the mentally ill as being long-term residents of prisons, they did not explore the other side of the issue. Specifically, they failed to explore the abuse of the inmates taking advantage of the state and wasting dollars on unnecessary medical care and robbing the truly ill of time in a hospital.