Violent crimes are considered to be a significant public health concern, causing severe social and medical and social problems, substantial economic costs, and considerable human suffering. Young age, male gender, and mental disorders are general risk factors for violent crimes. Almost fifty-six percent of the state prisoners and sixty-four percent of the jail inmates are diagnosed with mental health issues (Williams, 2015). There are many factors which tend to come into play when determining why a mentally ill individual is taken to prison rather than in hospital (Lamb, 1998). In general, individuals thought to have committed criminal offenses are always arrested and jailed regardless of their mental health status. Individuals suffering from mental health problems and commit horrific crimes should go to prison and not in mental health hospitals.

The mental health individuals who have committed serious criminal offenses should be taken to prisons because they can still receive the same treatments when taken to mental health hospitals. According to reports from the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 45 million people in the world suffer from behavioral or mental health disorders (WHO, 2005). These people are more likely to have previous convictions and serve lengthier sentences than those who do not have psychological needs. Most of the opponents say that prisons are not well equipped to handle people with mental disorders. Without appropriate treatments, mental health conditions can worsen or linger, increasing the likelihood of further involvement in the criminal justice system. To achieve better results, the government has come up with strategies to improve mental health services at different stages within the criminal justice system. For instance, a police officer is the first person to identify the behavior of an individual as an indicator for a mental health issue.

The Crisis intervention teams (CITs) ensures that the police officers on duty are trained to identify, access, and de-escalate situations of mental health situations (Williams, 2015). With proper evaluations, the mentally ill prisoners encouraged to seek appropriate medical treatment while in prison. This helps to provide correct court sentences to the right person. For instance, a person having mental health issues may serve a longer term to prevent the behavior from re-occurring whereas an individual who does not have mental problems may serve a shorter duration. The criminal justice system is charged by society with the responsibility of removing criminals from the community (Hoke, 2015). The justice system, therefore, finds no alternative but first to place the individual in secure custody and then make arrangements for them to have mental treatments when necessary. If the individual is thought to have committed a serious criminal offense, then the criminal justice system together with the police may generally fail to leave this individual in a psychiatric hospital because its security may be lax (Lamb, 1998). The mental health institutions are, therefore, likely to discharged them after a specified time once improvements are observed, but then this does not mean that they will not commit the criminal offense again. This is the reason why prison is a better solution to these kinds of individuals.

Individuals having mental health issues should be taken to court because some of them tend to pretend that they have mental disorders. An example of this situation happened in 1987 whereby Vincent Gigante feigned mental illness up to 7^th April 2003 to camouflage his position as one of the nation’s most dangerous and influential leaders of the Mafia (Raab, 2005). He faked to be insane because he wanted to dodge the long prison sentences being meted out to other mafia leaders. In 1997, he pleaded guilty before Judge I. Leo Glasser in Federal District Court in Brooklyn that he was trying to outsmart the legal justice system and delaying his racketeering trial from 1987 to 1997 by pretending that he was crazy. This made him be sentenced to twelve more years. Situations can this could be avoided when such criminals undergo life imprisonment. With proper pieces of training by the Crisis intervention teams (CITs), the law enforcement agencies could have identified he was faking his condition or if he was indeed insane. Other criminal offenses which are deemed to be acted by individuals having a sane mind includes killings at mosques, shopping malls, and in schools among others. By putting these kinds of individuals in prisons, such criminal offenses could have been avoided in the future.

In conclusion, many people tend to be diagnosed with mental health issues daily, and they should not be stigmatized in any situation, but instead, recognize and help them. The criminal justice system initially lacked means and necessary equipment for handling people with mental disorders appropriately, but then with improved mental health facilities in prisons, the criminal justice is now in a position of handling such cases appropriately and for a longer time. The mental health hospitals are not preferred for criminals with mental disorders because it may lack proper security; hence the person may be released back in the community again. While providing these arguments, my opinions did not change because I still believe that the best place in which the mentally ill criminals should be placed in federal prisons rather than in mental hospitals.

References

Hoke, S., (2015) “Mental Illness and Prisoners: Concerns for Communities and Healthcare Providers ” OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing Vol. 20, No. 1, Manuscript 3.

Lamb, R. H., & Weinberger, L. E. (1998). Persons With Severe Mental Illness in Jails and Prisons: A Review. American Psychiatric Association. 49(4): 483-492.

Raab, S. (2005). Vincent Gigante, Mob Boss Who Feigned Incompetence to Avoid Jail, Dies at 77. Retrieved at: https://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/20/obituaries/vincent-gigante-mob-boss-who-feigned-incompetence-to-avoid-jail.html

Williams, R. (2015). Addressing Mental Health in the Justice System. 23(32).

World Health Organization. (2005). Mental Health and Prisons.