Treatment vs Punishment for Mentally Disordered Offenders - Dissertation Example

The result of this desire to destigmatize mental illness was the promulgation of the Mental Health Act of 1959, which stated that more of the mentally ill would not be treated in institutions, but, rather, in the community. The goal of this Act was that the mentally ill would no longer bear the stigma of being institutionalized. The practical effect is that the mentally ill, no longer being able to go to mental institutions, instead became a part of the penal system, as they committed crimes that landed them in the prison system.

This dissertation addresses the problems inherent in caring for the mentally ill in the penal system and concludes that 90% of the prison population have some sort of mental illness. The conclusion is that we need to do more to care for these individuals, both for their individual sake and for the sake of the surrounding community in which they will be released after they get out of prison.Mental illness is a problem in our incarceration system. Inmates may suffer from a variety of ailments, including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, psychosis, and personality disorders (Steadman et al., 2009). Pedophiles often suffer from a variety of mental disorders as well (Adiele et al., 2011). There is no avoiding the fact there are many mentally ill offenders in prison, and some estimates are that 90% of the prison inmates suffer from some sort of mental illness (Brooker and Ullman, 2008).

One of the reasons why this number is so high is because, ironically, England originally wanted to destigmatize mental illness. The result of this desire to destigmatize mental illness was the promulgation of the Mental Health Act of 1959, which stated that more of the mentally ill would not be treated in institutions, but, rather, in the community. The goal of this Act was that the mentally ill would no longer bear the stigma of being institutionalized. The practical effect is that the mentally ill, no longer being able to go to mental institutions, instead became a part of the penal system, as they committed crimes that landed them in the prison system.