Mentally Ill Go To Jail For Treatment

[RedScare]

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5898439.html

One of the better articles I've seen written on this subject. The cost of treating these homeless people at the jail makes it very clear that the state and county did not eliminate mental health costs when budgets were cut. They merely made the costs hidden as jail operations.

[Overseas]

There was an interesting recent study - which I of course can't find now - whose thesis was that the de-institutionalization of the mentally ill in the US during the 60s didn't result in the de-institutionalization of the mentally ill. Instead society replaced mental institutions with jails. When society stopped locking the mentally ill up in mental institutions (which were often extremely abusive settings for the patients), society (in usual fashion) never followed through with the proper care in the community that was supposed to replace the mental institutions. So the mentally ill who were unable to cope in society inevitably wound up in jail. Until we realize that proper mental health treatment is not only the moral thing to do, but an excellent way to reduce crime, I don't expect this trend to change. More wasted lives (both the mentally ill and the victims of their crimes).

But hey look- Britney got increased visitation rights. Let's pay inordinate amounts of attention to that instead. Sigh.

[memebag]

I blame Ken Kesey.

[dbigtex56]

There was an interesting recent study - which I of course can't find now - whose thesis was that the de-institutionalization of the mentally ill in the US during the 60s didn't result in the de-institutionalization of the mentally ill. Instead society replaced mental institutions with jails. When society stopped locking the mentally ill up in mental institutions (which were often extremely abusive settings for the patients), society (in usual fashion) never followed through with the proper care in the community that was supposed to replace the mental institutions. So the mentally ill who were unable to cope in society inevitably wound up in jail. Until we realize that proper mental health treatment is not only the moral thing to do, but an excellent way to reduce crime, I don't expect this trend to change. More wasted lives (both the mentally ill and the victims of their crimes).

But hey look- Britney got increased visitation rights. Let's pay inordinate amounts of attention to that instead. Sigh.

What can we expect, when we have the mentally deficient determining the fate of the mentally ill?