Mental Health and the Prison System

Who atomic number 18 the dupes of mental wellness and how they be treated within the legal and prison house system?Mental health or mental unhealthyness, base on the question, is concern with distemperes of the mind, or with treating laid up(predicate)nesses of the mind. (Longman, p.890) These illnesses, which par retire the mind, create hallucinations that can lead the people who suffer from them to cause ill-treat to the innocent people who fall victim to them. According to the Longman dictionary, the word victim refers to psyche who has been attacked, robbed or murdered. (Longman, p.1593) It can also refer to someone who suffers because they be affected by an illness.In January 1999, a young cleaning lady was pushed from behind, in front of a New York City subway train, to her death. Her manslayer was a mentally ill patient who had refused to consume his medication. This young cleaning ladys name was Kendra Webdale and the Kendras law was named after her. She was cons idered a victim of mental health. There are some other cases who were fall victim to these illnesses.Due to their mental illnesses, many people questioned whether these criminals should be charged and pillow slip the consequences or should they be treated in the hospital for the mentally ill under strict control and supervision. They are being view as the victims of the mental health for the reason that they are non in their even out minds to judge. This occurs because they are suffering from the illness affecting their mind.Looking from the patients point of view, they are undergoing a lot of stress due to their conditions as they have fears that they are not accepted by the family, friends and society. With the stress they are undergoing, they might not be able to face the fact and would not want to take their medication. This had led to intervention of the legal system to control the situation.According to Kendras Law, a procedure has to be followed for obtaining court orders for certain individuals with mental illness to receive and accept assisted outpatient treatment (AOT). (Office of Mental Health, 2006) The mentally ill individual who can qualify for AOT must be at least(prenominal) 18 years old and shows a sign of being unequal to(p) of surviving on his own. In view of the concern that the patient may do serious harm to others in the society, an AOT is more likely to utility him. The request for AOT can be done by the parent, spouse, sibling, director of a hospital, licensed psychologist or a probation officer.However, there are some lawyers who passage of arms that the law will only serve to violate the patients process protection. In addition, many wonder if the implementation of this law is unfluctuating enough to force a person to take medication. There is incessantly the possibility of the patient having tried to seek treatment exclusively failed. As such, the government should not simply laws to force the taking of medication howeve r for the state to provide medication as well.In the case of the prison system, there has been a significant increase in the number of inmates who are found to be severely mentally ill. Despite the increase in the number of inmates, the medical treatment necessary for this group of inmate did not increase. Moreover, the staff handling them are not befittingly trained and thus, many of these inmates are being victimized in the prison cells due to their disorganised speech and behaviour. Their inability to communicate well with others may in twist around antagonize their officers or fellow inmates.In conclusion, the victims of mental health do not necessarily refer to only the ones suffering from the illness but those who are indirectly affected as well. The patients should be given proper and better treatment and the society should also be educated on how these patients need to be treated in order to survive in the society. Bibliography1. Harold E. Shabo. 2001. Social Costs Crimin al Justice and Mental Health formation Gaps which Contribute to the Criminalization of Mentally Disordered Persons. California.2. Longman. 1999. Longman Dictionary of Contemporary side International Students Edition. Pearson Education Limited. Spain.3. Office of Mental Health. 2006. An Explanation of Kendras Law.4. around Mental Health. 2006. Forced Mental Treatment has a Place. http//www.mentalhealth.about.com/cs/ schizophrenic psychosis/a/commit204.htm5. Mental Health Services. 2006. Bureau of Mental Health Services. http//www.drc.state.oh.us/ net/mentalhealth.htm