The New Asylum

Section 1 The Frontline episode “The New Asylums”, dove into the crisis mentally ill inmates face in the psychiatric ward in Ohio state prisons. The episode shows us the conditions and every day lives of mentally ill patients in Ohio state prisons, and explains how these inmates got to this point. It appeared that most of these prisoners should have been patients in an institute of some sort, out in society, but unfortunately due to whatever circumstances they ended up in prison. According to the episode, most of the inmates end up in prison due to them not coping with the outside world on their own. Prior to becoming imprisoned, the inmates had difficulties dealing with the outside world. Mainly due to lack of necessary psychiatric treatment, the soon to be inmates would get arrested for things such as violent behavior, robbery, and rape. This behavior would cause them to go to jail, and after repeated offenses they end up falling into prison. Once in prison, it is apparent that these inmates are in need of psychiatric attention and treatment. The inmates are then placed in the psychiatric ward of the prison. Where their prison psychiatric treatment begins. This is where the episode explains that prisons are becoming the modern day asylums. Where about 55,000 Americans are being treated in psychiatric hospitals, there are about 500,000 mentally ill people serving time in prisons. Those numbers are alarming, and such an indication of the lack of attention mentally ill people face in America. Frontline gives us some examples of mentally ill inmates going through the Ohio state prison system. They take us through some of their time spent in prison and explain how they got their and what happened to them post parole. Robert Bankston is an inmate that towards the beginning of the episode was yelling and screaming at one point, and then was able to hold a conversation with the interviewer the next. He was one of the prisoners that ended up in prison due

References: Miller, H. A., Young, G.R. (1997). Prison Segregation: administrative detention remedy or mental health problem? Criminal Behavior and Mental Health, 7, 85-94. Navasky, M. (Producer), O’Connor, K. (Producer), (May 14, 2005), The New Asylum, Frontline.