Incarceration and Mental Illness

Paper Summary:

The paper assesses the psychology of criminals in correctional facilities, assessing the mental status of criminals before entering correctional facilities and the training and resulting mental status of prisoners on release. The paper attempts to define whether any connections exist between an offender's personal background and rates of psychological impairment of mental illness resulting from his incarceration. The paper uses a person who is granted parole versus one who is on probation in order to show whether probation is always the best answer for someone scarred with a mental illness resulting from his incarceration.

Outline:
Introduction
Analysis
Rules and Regulations

From the Paper:

"Pustilnik (2005) provides some of the most comprehensive research on the effects of prison or incarceration on the mind, especially with respect to mental illness resulting from incarceration. In fact, the researcher presents many of the questions the author attempts to answer, with scientific research providing detailed analysis of mental illness in criminal justice and resulting from incarceration. Pustilnik (2005) hypothesizes that confinement within correctional institutions may create "intangible social value" when criminals are taught personal responsibility. However, the author also notes that reform typically is only possible among criminals who feel remorse (p. 217) and among criminals who receive therapeutic assistance while incarcerated to address mental illness as it occurs in the correctional facility."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Bowers, L. (2000). The social nature of mental illness. New York: Routledge.
• Gutterman, J. (2000). Waging a war on drugs: Administering a lethal dose to Kendra's Law. Fordham Literary Review, 68(1):2401-2402.
• Lawrence, T.W. (1987). Decision making in the capital penalty trial: Ananalysis of crime and defense strategies. Law and Human Behavior, 11(1): 133-125.
• Pustilnik, A.C. (2005). Prisons of the mind: Social value and economic inefficiency in the criminal justice response to mental illness. Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology. 96(1): 217.

More papers on Incarceration and Mental Illness:

• Research Paper # 59720 : "Mental Illness and Incarcerated Juveniles"
• Research Paper # 60954 : "Incarcerated Juveniles with Mental Illness"
• Persuasive Essay # 116153 : "Mental Illness and Incarceration"

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