Essay 2 \" Crime and Mental Illness\" - grade B+ PDF

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Crime and Mental Illness...

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Essay 2 Questions 2 Crime and Mental Illness Haley Farncombe 007711714 2015

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Di s c u s st h er e l a t i o n s h i pb e t we e nc r i mea n dme n t a li l l n e s s ,a n d d e s c r i b et h ep r e v a l e n c eo fme nt a li l l n e s si nc r i mi n a lp o p u l a t i on s . I s p r i s o nt h emo s ta p p r o p r i a t ep l a c et ode a lwi t hpe o p l ewi t hme n t a l i l l n e s s ? There has become a much strong correlation between crime and mental illness in our society today. Mental illness is not always the reasons for crimes to be committed and crimes being committed are not always the reason people develop mental illness. According to the text on page 68 the definition of crime is said to be the conduct that is prohibited by law and that is subject to penal sanction. To me, I see through that definition that what is considered a crime can range from fines for minor petty crimes, to murder and life without parole. Not in any way am I trying to insinuate that some crimes are acceptable, because they’re not, a crime is a crime. But when looking to find a correlation between crime and mental illness, I do believe to some extent when dealing with the more intense crimes (murders, rape, torturing, pedophiles, terrorism) are more likely to have a higher rate of ending up pleading insanity or mentally ill. To some circumstances, I do believe this is the case, others I do not. Some people are actually mentally ill, and are a threat to anyone around so I do feel prison is a suiting place for someone with mental illness after committing a crime. This is because in todays society, they offer so many options in and outside of prison for the mentally ill to deal with their illness. This makes me feel comfortable with the decision of putting the mentally ill in prison because like I previously said, even outside of prison, so many outlets are offered to prevent the illness from progressing and even leading to crime. There are many ways that mental illness can be developed, none that can ever completely go away, but can definitely be handled. You can sadly inherit a large amount of mental illnesses even before birth. These mental illnesses include illnesses such as depression, schizophrenia and autism. For example, Schizophrenia is mental disorder which at times, confuses the suffering from what is reality and what is hallucinations, they develop their own perception of the world, whether it be what everyone else sees or not. Crime or violence can occur due to the imaginary world colliding with our real world, causing the false 2

emotions and hallucinations to convince the suffering that what is happening needs to be done, or is considered to be okay. The next way that mental illness can be develop is through environmental or situational.

For example, throughout the development before birth, a woman who is pregnant may experience with drugs or alcohol frequently enough that this can do mental and physical damage to the baby after birth. Another example can be depression, this can be something that you are born with, hereditary or you can develop depression through situational factors. For example depression can be developed from a tough childhood. This can include things like abuse, neglect, bullying, and many other traumatic events that children can suffer through. With this being said, I feel that with so many mental illnesses people can develop, I don’t see how it can’t have a correlation with crime. I feel that the severely mentally ill will have a more likely chance to engage in violent behaviors because they aren’t always in the right state of mind to understand that what they’re doing is wrong and that once it’s done, it cant be fixed. On that note, there are certain cases that I do feel that prison may not always be the best answer for the mentally ill who have committed crimes. For example, many who are dealing with an illness into which they may become more violent towards themselves or anyone in jail may be prison guards or other inmates, doesn’t seem worth it. When a mentally ill individual has not committed a very intense crime I feel If they will become healthier individual in mental illness institution, then they should be put their for the time they were to be in jail. All in all, going to jail after committing a crime, if a criminal does get out, the point of it all is for them to understand and serve the time for the crime that they have committed. If someone suffers from such a high spectrum of mental illness that they don’t even remember or understand the crime that they have done, depending on the crime that has been committed, I don’t feel jail is the safest place. Otherwise, I do feel that the more intense crimes as listed before, that are committed, with a mental illness or not, should serve out their time in jail. This is because I feel that their should be no special exceptions for anyone who commits a crime that put you in jail for 25-life.

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References: Linden, R., ed. 2012. Criminology: A Canadian Perspective, 7th edition. Toronto: Nelson.

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