Mental Health Issues In The Criminal Justice System
Criminal justice issues among individuals with mental health and substance use conditions is a growing problem. This paper examines mental health issues as it relates to the criminal justice system and specifically how mental health and the mentally ill can play a role in the crime. Different factors can become a problem with mental health illness and the criminal justice system. Mental health illness can contribute to jail and prison overcrowding, high crime rates, drug addiction, and many other problems. After the wide deinstitutionalization of state hospitals, jails and prisons have seen an increase in the number and percentage of individuals with mental health and substance use. Today, the largest U.S. jails and prisons hold more people
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However, little empirical research exists to directly count the costs of mental health problems and severe mental illness in the criminal justice system. Where prison health care cost estimates exist, they are often unreliable, outdated, and do not focus specifically on mental health costs as opposed to physical health costs. Despite these shortcomings, several studies indicate that prisons today need to spend more on prisoner health care, including expenses on mental health care specifically (Kinsella 2004; Office of the Inspector General 2008; Stephan 2004; Sterns et al. 2008). This is in large part because of the aging of prisoner populations. Data from the National Association of State Budget Officers, manufactured by the Council of State Governments, indicate that, from 1998 to 2001, state corrections budgets grew an average of 8% each year, and during that same three-year period, correctional health care costs grew by 10% annually. Mental health care costs are listed as one of the major contributors to this growth: in 1998, states spent between 5 and 43 percent of their health care budgets on mental health (Kinsella 2004). In addition to direct mental health care costs, mentally ill prisoners have higher rates of misconduct and accidents in prisons (Fellner 2006; Toch and Adams 2002), thereby sustaining higher indirect or collateral costs in prisons. …show more content…
The primary question for many policymakers and researchers is whether these costs, which can be averted if mentally ill offenders are adequately treated and supervised, exceed the costs of treatment and supervision. However, mental health treatment for prisoners could actually save money. For instance, it costs the state of Michigan an average of over $34,000 to house just one inmate for a year. It costs Michigan between $2,000 and about $9,000 per year to provide mental health services to that same person outside prison walls. For these reasons, many mental health experts advocate for the increased use of probation and other alternatives to incarceration (Sprinthall, DeFrancesco, & Lloyd, 2015). In conclusion, many problems stem from mental health illness when brought against the criminal justice system. Mental health illness can contribute to jail and prison overcrowding, high crime rates, drug addiction, and many other problems. After the wide deinstitutionalization of state hospitals, jails and prisons have seen an increase in the number and percentage of individuals with mental health and substance use. Furthermore,
However, little empirical research exists to directly count the costs of mental health problems and severe mental illness in the criminal justice system. Where prison health care cost estimates exist, they are often unreliable, outdated, and do not focus specifically on mental health costs as opposed to physical health costs. Despite these shortcomings, several studies indicate that prisons today need to spend more on prisoner health care, including expenses on mental health care specifically (Kinsella 2004; Office of the Inspector General 2008; Stephan 2004; Sterns et al. 2008). This is in large part because of the aging of prisoner populations. Data from the National Association of State Budget Officers, manufactured by the Council of State Governments, indicate that, from 1998 to 2001, state corrections budgets grew an average of 8% each year, and during that same three-year period, correctional health care costs grew by 10% annually. Mental health care costs are listed as one of the major contributors to this growth: in 1998, states spent between 5 and 43 percent of their health care budgets on mental health (Kinsella 2004). In addition to direct mental health care costs, mentally ill prisoners have higher rates of misconduct and accidents in prisons (Fellner 2006; Toch and Adams 2002), thereby sustaining higher indirect or collateral costs in prisons. …show more content…
The primary question for many policymakers and researchers is whether these costs, which can be averted if mentally ill offenders are adequately treated and supervised, exceed the costs of treatment and supervision. However, mental health treatment for prisoners could actually save money. For instance, it costs the state of Michigan an average of over $34,000 to house just one inmate for a year. It costs Michigan between $2,000 and about $9,000 per year to provide mental health services to that same person outside prison walls. For these reasons, many mental health experts advocate for the increased use of probation and other alternatives to incarceration (Sprinthall, DeFrancesco, & Lloyd, 2015). In conclusion, many problems stem from mental health illness when brought against the criminal justice system. Mental health illness can contribute to jail and prison overcrowding, high crime rates, drug addiction, and many other problems. After the wide deinstitutionalization of state hospitals, jails and prisons have seen an increase in the number and percentage of individuals with mental health and substance use. Furthermore,