A brief history of the criminalization of mental illness

Abstract

This article traces the history of the way in which mental disorders were viewed and treated, from before the birth of Christ to the present day. Special attention is paid to the process of deinstitutionalization in the United States and the failure to create an adequately robust community mental health system to care for the people who, in a previous era, might have experienced lifelong hospitalization. As a result, far too many people with serious mental illnesses are living in jails and prisons that are ill-suited and unprepared to meet their needs.

What lies at the intersection of law and psychiatric nursing? Exploring the process of judiciarization in the context of mental health

“…In criminal matters, judiciarization may take place after a PDMI has committed an offence that may result in incarceration. In this regard, Schneider (2015) reports that persons diagnosed as mentally ill are overrepresented in the Canadian correctional system, although it is an environment where it can be difficult to provide appropriate mental health care (Dvoskin et al, 2020;Frappier et al, 2009; Protecteur du citoyen, 2011). Justice system involvement may also result in hospitalization in a forensic psychiatric setting for individuals found not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder (Schneider, 2015).…”

“…This phenomenon, known as judiciarization, is discussed in literature on criminalization of PDMIs and other historical works in the field of psychiatry, sociology and law. In these multidisciplinary writings, this increase in the interaction between psychiatric and judicial power is linked to the phenomenon of deinstitutionalization (Dvoskin, Knoll, & Silva, 2020), or what other authors rather define as transinstitutionalization (Prins, 2011;Schneider, 2015); that is, how individuals, supposedly de-institutionalized as a result of community care policies, ended up simply shifting and transitioning in different institutions, such as prisons, tribunals and psychiatric institutions, rather than their own homes. Thus, juridiciarization, as a relatively new concept, speaks to the increasing ways in which PDMIs come into contact with the judicial system, both civil and criminal (Paradis-Gagné & Jacob, 2020; Centre for Addiction WITNESS VOL.…”

Psychiatrie ohne Ordnungsfunktion? – Kontra

“…Eine solche "ausschließlich unterstützende Psychiatrie" kann nicht ohne die sie umgebende gesellschaftliche und politische Landschaft gedacht und entwickelt werdenoder sie bleibt eine kommunikative "Blase", die sich nicht um das schert, was an anderen Stellen der gleichen Gesell-schaft möglich ist oder eben nicht. Dass Versorgung psychisch kranker Menschen in Gefängnissen sowohl in Deutschland wie auch international derzeit zwischen defizitär und skandalös einzuordnen ist, ist ein offenes Geheimnis [4][5][6]. Wozu ein solches "Wegducken" der psychiatrischen Versorgung für unliebsame Menschen führt, zeigt das Beispiel der USA: Dort finden sich inzwischen mehr psychisch kranke Menschen in Gefängnissen als in psychiatrischen Kliniken [7] bei einer desaströsen Versorgung der psychisch kranken Menschen in den Gefängnissen.…”

Balancing the pendulum: rethinking the role of institutionalization in the treatment of serious mental illness

“…The conditions of individuals with psychotic disorders have swung, like a pendulum, from institutional neglect to community neglect and back again over the past several hundred years. [1][2][3][4] At the core of treatment failure is a failure in mental health policy and funding, with the result usually framed as the degree of human institutionalization in jails, prisons, and asylums. [5][6][7] In the middle of the 19th century, institutions designed to deliver moral treatment were considered the humane answer to care properly for the SMI population.…”

“…[9][10][11][12] An examination of the history of the approach to people with SMI across time and geography indicates that we are just one data point on a cyclical pattern of treatment and policy failure through time. [1][2][3][4] Figure 1 is an oversimplification, but illustrates the issue if you consider the current state of homelessness, criminalization, forensic institutionalization, and incarceration of people living with SMI in the wake of deinstitutionalization. The criminalization crisis is currently reaching the tipping point where it will begin to drive changes in policy.…”