Mental Illness In Prison Essay

Most of the reading assignments in the class did not specifically address the issue being addressed in this paper, it did cover the general aspects of the paper. For example, Mullaly in his book talked about oppression and based on his definition of oppression, some people agreed that individuals who commit minor crimes and suffer from a mental illness should be hospitalized instead of being jailed, furthermore, they should not be placed in solitary confinement or administrative segregation. As written in the 75th plenary meeting taken place on 17 December 1991, persons with mental health issues should be granted certain protections. Some rights include the best available access to health care, all persons with a mental illness, or who are …show more content…
Some arguments that were recurring was the idea that some people fake mental illness to get away with their crime, that criminals should be in jail or prisons and that mental illness will be used as a scapegoat for criminals. Another interesting argument was that they should be segregation for safety reasons because they are a high-risk population for abuse. While these arguments are legit, it is important to look back at the assembly meeting calling for a domestic law to be passed to place mentally ill offenders in mental health facilities only after independent medical advice has been given to say the person lack the capacity of a normal individual. Essentially, the individual must be examined by outside medical professions and has shown significant signs of mental illness, then they can be placed in a mental facility. Some literature suggests that individuals become mentally unstable while in administrative or solitary confinement in prison, which is accurate, however this issue of advocacy in mainly for individuals who suffered mental illness prior to entering prison, therefore using a mental health defense in their case is rational. On the basis of the argument that segregation is for protection, the counterargument is that they shouldn’t be in jail or prison in the first place and would be much safer in a mental health

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