There always have been issues to do with the mental health system and also with criminal justice system

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Prison population has increased by over 50% since the Richmond Report on deinstitutionalisation (Australian Bureau of Statistics) with 74% of prisoners in NSW suffering from a psychiatric disorder (Corrections Health Service). This has caused great concerns with mental illness in the criminal justice system. Mental institutions were ‘warehouses’ for the mentally ill and failed to meet basic human rights requirements and treatment. Yet as a result of institutions closing, more mentally ill people began filling the prison system.  Something needs to be done about mental illness in prisons and there can be two possible solutions. Firstly, mentally ill people who have committed crimes are still criminals therefore treatment that is required can be fulfilled while in prison. Also, prison staff are uneducated in areas of mental health and illness, so staff should be well equipped and educated to deal with such people and adequate diagnosis must be given and early rather than later. Treatment in prison can be described through many of the perspectives. The second option is to never allow mentally ill people to be in prison, through proper diagnosis and treatment  which can be described through many of the perspectives in  specialised care and rehabilitation.

As mental institutions closed patients were left to fend for themselves and to choose what their needs and treatments were, and since many people could not, or did not want to, recognise their illness (‘agnosia’) many patients ceased medication which resulted in destitution and subsequently getting themselves involved in criminal activity.

A mentally ill person who has committed a crime and a mentally ill person who has not, cannot receive the same comfort from their treatment. Treatment of course is needed but can occur within prison. A major problem is that prison staff are not educated on the facts of mental illness, therefore do not know how to treat these people. In some cases mentally ill prisoners have been locked in an isolated cell for up to twenty-three hours which makes matters worse (See Appendix 4). Prison staff are not mental health professionals; quite the opposite in fact as their lack of knowledge worsens the situation.

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More accessible health care professionals are needed as there is a shortage of health care professionals to be able to properly deal with mental issues.

To help with this issue there needs to be early and proper diagnosis. A lot of prisoners have been found to have mental illness as they have exhibited symptoms of mental illness over a period of time and it is not detected early enough. Going by the DSM IV is a safe way to diagnose people with mental illness, which must be done by a health care professional so adequate treatment/medication can be ...

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