Since the beginning of the 20th century, the United States mental health care system has been largely removed from the public sector and become mostly privatized care, unaffordable to the majority of the population. At the same time, sentencing laws across the country have become more and more stringent, due to laws like California’s Three Strikes. The combination of these two events has led to the criminalization of many disruptive behaviors that are typical of a mentally ill population who has gone untreated. This has contributed to the overcrowding of the country’s jails and prisons without the development of a proper mental healthcare system within the jails and prisons.
The Bureau of Justice reported in 2006 that mental health was a factor in determining the average time spent in jail. In fact, a quarter of prisoners and inmates with a mental health problem have served three or more prior incarcerations compared to only a fifth of those without a mental illness. A connection between mentally ill prisoners and inmates and a history of mental health issues and a history of homelessness, substance abuse, sexual abuse, and involvement in the foster care system exists. When in jail, these inmates are more likely to engage in destructive behavior which can lead to further extending their sentences. This can be a huge problem because the care within prisons and jails is inadequate. PBS’s Frontline details the mental healthcare system and shows how the rules and regulations of the prison system often clash with the necessary therapeutic care for severe mental illness.
This is exemplified in California’s San Quentin State Prison where the therapeutic care model is supposed to mimic that of the outside world, according to Eric Monthei, PsyD, chief psychologist and chief of mental health for the prison. Patrick O’Reilly PhD, another doctor in the prison describes the group therapy process in San Quentin. He explains that inmates find the process helpful and are respectful of the process. Monthei says that therapy is very beneficial to mentally ill inmates and that when they are released, they reintegrate with regular society. This runs contradictory to the Bureau of Justice’s statistics on recidivism rates and with Human Rights Watch’s report “Mental Illness, Human Rights, and US Prisons”, which explains how unprepared the prison system is to handle its mental health issue. Moreover, the way that mental health is handled in the prison system denies basic human rights.
The contradiction between the prison officials and the statistics and eye witness accounts on this issue seems like a large divide. Really though, the prison doctors do not outright claim that the mental health system really works. In fact, Monthei even notes that the institutional setting of the prison is not the ideal setting for treatment. Overall, it is clear that the system is lacking many basic tenants of a good therapy setting. While prisoners are forced to take medication when behavioral problems arise, in a valid therapy model, individuals would be asked to take medication. I argue that the prison system is completely ill-equipped to handle mental illness. First of all, the policies