Here is the story: http://www.boston.com/news/loc…
Once again, history of suicide attempts. History of mental health problems.
Dead – and with over crowding, cuts in prison mental health, cuts in staffing, cuts in mental health hospital beds, expect more of these deaths.
I gather with imprisonment costing “only” $45k a year and hospital beds with psychiatric treatment costing $150k-$250k the mortality of the mentally ill in prison is acceptable.
Again, some need round the clock residential care, and will become imprisoned because they only feel safe locked up.
I told my son this, and he had me watch the movie Shawshank Redemption. He is a criminal justice major and said that everyone at his university who is a criminal justice major is required to watch Shawshank Redemption.
So – all of you – I challenge you to watch that movie.
If we neither educate, nor treat the mental and physical illnesses and learning disabilities of the “stragglers” from the human herd, we condemn them to prison, poverty, and a downward spiral.
The strong will make it and take care of themselves. The weak need our commitment to “Serve, Protect, and Defend.”
See: http://www.shawshankredemption… A fanpage with more than you ever wanted to know about the film…or maybe, about this society.
(medium and minimum) and it has always been clear to anyone working in corrections that the percentage of the institutional population that is mentally ill is staggeringly high. Poorly trained mental health professionals (who come into the institution through contracted vendors) are a major part of the problem. Until the Commonwealth fully appreciates the fact that comprehensive K-12 education and vocational training programs are no substitute for a real mental health screening and treatment program, little progress will be made. When I was teaching at Shirley Medium we had nearly 400 inmates in either comprehensive ed or a voc program–with waiting lists–until the programs were eviscerated by state budget cuts. Cuts to already inadequate mental health programs were similarly devastating. With our prison fetish in the U.S., one can only imagine what the future will hold.
http://vps28478.inmotionhosting.com/~bluema24/d…
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p>I find the vast majority of the indigent defendants I am appointed to represent suffer from mental illness and that every year, there is less available to treat their illnesses or assist them to rehabilitate themselves and become independent, or keep themselves safe when in crisis.
I love the film, but required viewing in an academic setting? Steven King is a writer, not a sociologist.