Social Control and Mental Illness

     Through a social democratic lens, control issues are explored pertaining to individuals with a mental illness.  This ideological view values social justice, which means that much value is placed on the well-being of citizens (Hick, 2007).  This view also holds social equality as a key value as well as fellowship and cooperation (Hick, 2007).  When looking at mental illness, individuals often fall into problems which call on the need for social control, to protect them and other citizens of society.

     In our society today there are numerous social policies surrounding the area of mental health.  In particular many of these policies pertain to the criminal justice system, and people with mental illness seemingly fall into this system.  In this present day deinstitutionalization has caused an increase of individuals with severe mental illness to be rehabilitated within the community (Lamb, Weinberger, Decuir, 2002).  For this reason any issues that arise pertaining to the safety and welfare of a community often fall into police officers hands.  As the law states, police officers are dictated to protect individuals with a disability who cannot care for themselves (Lamb et al, 2002).  It can be said that police officers are the front line workers when it comes to individuals experiencing a severe mental health crisis; they are placed with the responsibility of  determining if these individuals should be linked appropriate resources or detained for their safety as well as societies.

     There is an article available online through the CBC news website.  The name of the article is Mental Health Calls Tap Police Resources: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/story/2012/07/30/sby-police-mental-health-help.htm

      This article identifies that the Sudbury Police Department are dealing with numerous calls involving individuals with a mental health crisis.  It is of the norm for the department to receive up to two calls a day pertaining to this issue.  This is becoming a problem for society as a whole because it is tying up resources.  When citizens need the assistance of police, officers are being held up in waiting rooms for hours dealing with mental health patients.  When officers are tied up in waiting rooms they are unable to meet the needs of society.  The identification of this issue has led to an increase in mobile crisis response workers who can work along with the police and assist them in triaging individuals, and linking them to other resources thus freeing up the police.

     When looking at this article with a social democratic lens, it really hits upon the values they see as important for a society.   Policing is a measure of social control, thus creating a safe environment which is a needed to ensure the well-being and safety of all individuals in a society.  Furthermore, individuals with a mental illness experiencing a crisis are extremely vulnerable and are in need of a system that will protect their well-being when they no longer can.  The Sudbury police department recognizes the needs of these people, thus they are incoporating more mobile crisis response workers to help out.  The increase of individuals living in communities with a mental illness has placed much stress on the police departments.  It is through this lens that it could be said society has an equal right to safety, and with the police officers resources being spread thin, an imbalance occurs.  I think that the recognition of this problem as stated in the above article falls under the social democratic ideology because it addresses the need for cooperation among other professionals. It introduces the idea of a multidisciplinary team which will be beneficial in helping meet the needs of these individuals.  I think that the introduction of more mobile crisis response workers will benefit society as a whole, as it restores the balance of social control and social justice.  Thus creating a society where the well-being and equality of its citizens is valued.

~ Alissa B

References

CBC News. (2012, July 30).  Mental Health Calls Tap Police Resources.  Retrieved from http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/story/2012/07/30/sby-police-mental-health-help.htm

Hick, S.  (2007).  Social Welfare in Canada: Understanding Income Security (2^nd ed.).  Toronto ON: Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc.

Lamb, R. Weinberger, L. & Decuir, W.  (2002).  The Police and Mental Health.  Psychiatric Services.  53 (10).  doi: 10.1176/appi.ps.53.10.1266