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My view of criminal justice has changed completely. Before this course, I was under the impression that the criminal justice system might be flawed—but what system is perfect? Now I have a much better understanding of the nature of that system and the reasons it is not just imperfect but in major need of reform if not total re-development. The reason I say that is I have come to understood criminological theories that explain why crime happens, and mental health issues are a big part of the problem. It is almost to the point where crime has really become not a criminal justice problem but rather a mental health problem, as nearly half of all crimes are committed by people with a history of mental health issues (Evans Cuellar, McReynolds & Wasserman, 2006). Instead of getting the mental health treatment they need, these people become self-destructive, break laws because they have no real social bonds (i.e., social bond theory) or because their lives have been so utterly derailed that they cannot operate like law abiding citizens (i.e., life course theory), and so they end up convicted of crimes and incarcerated. Yet once they are in prison, they are treated like chattel slaves of corporations who pay pennies on the dollar for their labor (Pelaez, 2014). They are not rehabilitated. They do not receive mental health treatment.
That is a major problem. The criminal justice system is supported by for-profit private prisons that make money off incarceration. That to me sounds like a big conflict of interest, and it is apparent to many people...…would enable me to be a top-tier reform advocate. It is obvious to me that change is not going to happen unless a serious grassroots movement is developed, and I want to use my education to help develop that movement. This is something I believe needs to be done for the sake of the country and the culture. When profits are put before people, the values that should hold the fabric of this nation together are lost and washed away. The structures and systems in place are unfair and unhealthy. They do not address the root issues at the heart of almost half of all crime. Mental health problems are very real in this country—but our criminal justice system seems to turn a blind eye to them, and that is something that needs to change.…
Crime is Not Just a Criminal Justice Issue Introduction The issue of mental health in the criminal justice system is important because, as Stringer (2019) notes, the US Department of Justice has admitted that nearly 40% of individuals in prison have a history of mental illness. Unfortunately, the criminal justice system does not appear to be focused on addressing the situation in a way that benefits people convicted of crime. The prison
Mental Health Support for Inmates in For Profit Prisons The thesis of this project is: The prison industry needs to do a better job of addressing the mental health needs of prisoners. What makes this an issue is that, as Morgan et al. (2013) and Semenza and Grosholz (2019) show, the criminal justice system is not doing enough to treat the mental health issues of inmates. Instead of focusing on the mental
Functions, Issues, and Objectives in Corrections Introduction The functions of the historical state correctional system have changed since the founding of the nation more than 200 years ago. The Jacksonian Era, the Era of Reconstruction and the Progressive Era on up to the reform of the 1970s all effected different changes to the function—i.e., the goals and activities—of the correctional system. Pennsylvania’s state correctional system was the first to introduce solitary confinement
Prison Industrial Complex as Another Form of Mandatory Minimum Sentencing US sentencing policies are still lean which has led to the federal government to incarcerate so many people. There are too many criminals committing too many crimes, and this explains why we have too many prisoners. Currently, the government's prison is holding 200,000-armed robbers, 150,000 sex offenders and 100 murderers (Davis, 2008). These people are enough to make fill a city.
Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 Supreme Court has held that deliberate indifference to the substantial risk of sexual assault violates inmates' rights under the Cruel and Unusual Punishments Clause of the 8th Amendment to the Constitution. In response, the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 is designed to systematically study the incidence of offender-on-offender and staff-on-offender assault in correctional facilities throughout the United States and to propose standards for preventing
In the American Disease: Origins of Narcotic Control, David Musto notes that throughout the twentieth century, America's drug wars have regularly scape-goated minority groups, like the Chinese with opium, marijuana among the Mexicans, and cocaine among the African-Americans (McCormick 2000). The National Advisory Commission on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals reported in 1973 that "the prison, the reformatory and the jail have achieved only a shocking record a failure. There