Reference no: EM132295949

Topic:

1. What is the criminal justice issue or controversy? What is the history of the issue?

-Issue: the prison system being an alternative for mentally ill inmates and their failure to provide their needs

-Imprisonment instead of treatment

2. Why is this issue interesting or important to discuss today?

-Overcrowding in prison system, within the system there are people who are an incorrect diagnosis, and ineffective treatments.

-Incarceration rate still big today, it leads to the problem of overcrowding in prison. Homelessness arrest is also a big event and recidivism

-Mental health issue within prisons, limited resources to treatment

-Possible ways lead to mental health issue (depress, inmate pressure)

3. Whom does the issue or controversy impact? What is the target population?

-Everyone including taxpayers, inmates with or without mental health

-All untreated mentally ill individuals; especially untreated/incorrect diagnosis

4. What do the research and scholarly literature say about this issue or controversy as it pertains to one or more of the following: race, socioeconomic status, genders, etc.?

a. Stanford law article (in terms of social acceptance standards)

1. the issue is the prison system & mental illness. part of the prison system is overcrowding

2. article mentions how Prop 36 allows for 3 strike inmates to be released early

3. inmates with mental illness usually don't benefit from this because they are seen as potential threats to the rest of society

4. Recidivism rates for previously incarcerated women are high, with as many as 60% of women prisoners reincarcerated within three years of release (Durose, Cooper, & Snyder)