Impriosment of Individuals with a Mental Illness a Neo-conservative View

     By looking through a neo-conservative lens it could be said that people who have a mental illness are a threat to neighbourhood safety.  It has been a view of the neoconservatives that criminals opt to prey upon others for the sake of their own gratification (Lafond & Durham, 1992).  The views of neoconservatives are very black and white when it comes to punishment and justice.  "Neoconservatives argue that the law could not and should not take into account the various social environments from which offenders came and the incentives for crime those environments created" (Lafond & Durham, 1992).  In my opinon neoconservatives believe whether an individual has a mental illness or not it is their view that punishment is essential to prevent and restrain those who commit crimes.   An issue that comes to rise under this lens is the fact that many people facing mental illness are being placed into the prison systems.  The Globe and Mail produced an article that states that Canada’s prisons are becoming warehouses for the mentally ill (Mackrel, 2009).  The main ideas produced by this article are: the closing of many psychiatric institutions has resulted in an increase in mentally ill individuals being incarcerated.  More than one in ten men, and one in three women held in federal prisons have mental health problems.  The prisons are not equipped with the proper resources to help the individuals suffering from mental illness.  The Conservatives idea to solve this problem is to expand prison space and staff to accommodate such growth.  In my opinion the conservative governments’ solution to this problem does absolutely nothing to solve a growing problem.  The issue at hand is that these individuals are not receiving proper treatment within these facilities.  Without such treatment upon release these individuals are at a high risk to be placed back within the prison system.

     The view of the neo-conservative suggests these individuals are a threat.   Police play a factor in keeping neighbourhoods safe and if they feel an individual is a threat to the community they are obligated to remove them.  “The police are well aware that if they refer a person with mental illness to the criminal justice system, the individual will be dealt with in a more predictable way. He or she will be taken into custody, will probably be seen by a mental health professional attached to the court or the jail, and will probably receive psychiatric evaluation and treatment” (Lamb, Weinberger, Decuir, 2002).  Thus through placing men and women who have a mental illness in prisons neighbourhood safety is achieved, and the officers believe these individuals will receive the necessary help they require.

     Attitudes of society still hold much stigma and stereotypes when dealing with individuals who have a mental illness.  These attitudes can hinder how individuals are reintegrated into communities, “the social reintegration of ex-psychiatric patients depends crucially upon their acceptance (or rejection) by the host community” (Taylor & Dear, 1981).  This research proves that it is essential for communities to support these individuals if they are to be rehabilitated properly.  If these stereotypes exist it is in my opinion that we will continue to find these individuals within the prison system because of the difficulties faced with trying to reintegrate them into the community. 

     The neoconservative’s idea of getting tough on crime and keeping neighbourhoods safe seemingly ignores the needs of vulnerable individuals that have a mental illness.  There are problems that are occurring at the policing level and community level which help keep these individuals behind bars.  Research has also suggested that systemic problems are occurring and contributing to this problem of the mentally ill being incarcerated (Lamberti et al, 2001).  The health care system, justice system, and social service system all work within their own entity and the defragmentation of services work against individuals who suffer from a mental illness.  The view that the neoconservative government holds ignores possibilities to try and offer solutions to this growing problem.

 

References

Lafond, J. & Durham, M. (1992). Back to the asylum: The future of mental health law in the United States.  Available from http://books.google.ca/books?id=odu2ssjEtAEC&pg=PA53&lpg=PA53&dq=neoconservative+%22mental+illness%22+safety&source=bl&ots=PLfKMg9FrK&sig=VgryzEo6YRz02KDWAsW7BCz-fOs&hl=en&sa=X&ei=TQvGUPejBqaoywGrpICIDg&ved=0CE0Q6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=neoconservative%20%22mental%20illness%22%20safety&f=false

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

Lamberti, J., Weisman, R. L., Schwarzkopf, S. B., Price, N., Aston, R., & Trompeter, J. (2001). The Mentally Ill in Jails and Prisons: Towards an Integrated Model of Prevention. Psychiatric Quarterly, 72(1), 63.  Retrieved from: http://web.ebscohost.com.libproxy.auc.ca/ehost/detail?sid=97ceff93-6a0a-46c6-9482-944cb727af8a%40sessionmgr15&vid=1&hid=19&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=a9h&AN=11303866

Mackrael, K.  (2009). Canada’s Prisons becoming Warehouses for the Mentally Ill.  The Globe and Mail.  Retrieved from: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/canadas-prisons-becoming-warehouses-for-the-mentally-ill/article4236899/

Taylor, S. M., & Dear, M. J. (1981). Scaling community attitudes toward the mentally ill. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 7(2), 225-240.  Retrieved from: http://search.proquest.com/docview/614275499?accountid=46683

By: Alissa B