Case Study: Her Majesty Prison Service

In the past decade mass shootings and domestic violence has become a topic frequently talked about in America's society. In America it is a popular belief that mass shootings are a product of mental illness or because there are an abundance of guns. A part of mass shootings occur because of mental illness, but not in the way many people believe. Drugs that are prescribed to people that have a mental illness or are depressed are affecting people's brains and the things that cross their minds. America's crisis on mass shootings and domestic violence is due to the prescription of psychotropic, psychiatric and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) drugs, commonly referred to as antidepressants, from trusted psychiatrists.

Higgins et al.’s (2012) evaluated traffic stop data and theories’ to identify if race had an influence on who was being searched. Researchers expect that Blacks will be searched more than Whites and the theory will make a connection between race and searches. The Louisiana police department conducted the study through the use of scantrons. Officers who made traffic stops in the year 2002 completed the forms that were reviewed by supervisors

Stereotypes spread by society is a main factor that contributes to racial profiling and can leave negative, long-lasting effects in the community as well as in future generations which can leave the minority groups feeling oppressed by the rest of society. Through these stereotypes officers have been shown to stop minority groups more often and be the victims of unreasonable searches. For some officers this can be seen as the “right thing” because the person they stop may look suspicious or they do

The main complication is that America’s corrupted mental health system is a liability to the safety of regular American citizens because mentally ill people do not get the proper help they need and are easily able to gain access to guns. A majority of people with mental illness show signs of having a mental illness and are often not given a proper diagnosis or any diagnosis at all. Only one-third of the people with mental illness who have committed mass shootings in the U.S. since 1900 had sought or received mental health care prior to their attacks. This information suggests that most shooters do not seek or receive care that they need (Duwe 1). If a person with a mental illness is left untreated they could end up hurting themselves or others. Sandy hook mass shooter Adam Lanza presented clear signs of schizophrenia but was not issued the proper care he needed. (Turndoff 5). Another instance where the mental health system has failed is in a case where an individual with mental illness may be diagnosed, but their case is not taken seriously and left untreated. For instance, the notorious Charleston Church shooter Dylann Roof was diagnosed with a host of multiple disorders by a

It has been noted that one’s race plays a vital role in the chances of being pulled over by the police. According to a New York article published in the City Journal in 2009, Blacks were pulled over 55% of the time and were only 23% of the city’s population while Hispanics, being 28% of the population were pulled over 32%, and Whites were pulled over 10% of the time and accounted for 38% of the population (MacDonald, 2010).

With mental illness identified as a very probable cause of these shootings, it is critical that the evidently poor and ineffective clinical help for mental disorders be reevaluated. A theoretical explanation for the modern prevalence of mental illness could be the increasingly optional nature of treatment: therapy is a choice, and checking into a facility or institution is

Conversations associating mental illness with extreme cases of violence have become, and continue to become, more and popular in the United States of America. Many people across the nation, and even in other countries around the world, are demanding answers to an outstanding number of questions. Why did these tragic events occur? Why do these tragic events continue to occur? Why is it that whenever a mass shooting occurs the suspect claims insanity? What is insanity? Are they telling the truth or is it just a cover up? Does mental illness really cause crime? There are so many questions all with varying supplementary scenarios however, I will focus on my belief that although mental illness does not cause crime and violence, it does contribute to it. I believe that the first and most important problem in this controversy is the lack of understanding what both mental illness and crime is. Robert Schug refers to both terms as “umbrella terms” in Stacy Mallicoat’s Crime and Criminal Justice: Concepts and Controversies (2016). Mental illness consists of numerous complex conditions that alters one’s state of mind with ranging severities and crime consists of varying levels of behaviors and actions that are against the law.

“Although studies suggest a link between mental illnesses and violence, the contribution of people with mental illnesses to overall rates of violence is small, and further, the magnitude of the relationship is greatly exaggerated in the minds of the general population (DeVoe, 2009).”

The article “Mental Illness and Violence” talks about criminals that are violence and what factors play a large roll in a persons actions and behavior. The factors that contribute to a person being violent come down to background, emotions, and if they choose to use substances. The fact that in the article people with substance abuse are likely to become violent and sent to jail without looking in to what is going on with them mentality. It is seen that if

The article failed to mention that research shows a decline in homicides by people with mental illnesses. The article also failed to stress that people with mental illnesses are more likely to be the victim of the crime than the other way around (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services). Many news outlets can encourage people to think those dealing with mental health issues are violent and dangerous by exaggerating and focusing on violent aspects of certain instances that involve mental illness and violence. “Using graphic descriptions, emotional diction, and a jarring headline can turn a harmless story into a sensationalized violent crime.” Us news - Kirstin Fawcett (2015) . Less than 15% of news media includes the perspectives of psychiatric experts (heather stuart 2006). While news representations have gotten better, they are still commonly centralized around violence.

It has been found that both Hispanics and African-Americans are almost twice as likely as are whites to have their cars searched. This differential search pattern is consistent with both statistical and preference-based discrimination. Antonovics and Knight (2009) developed a model of police behaviour similar to Knowles, Persico and Todd (2001) and distinguish between the types of discrimination. They used a model to estimate preference-based discrimination separately by officer race.The results suggest that officers are more likely to conduct a search if the race of the motorist differs from the race of the officer. Antonovics and Knight (2009) find that preference-based discrimination has a substantial impact in explaining these disparities.

This journal was posted by the American Journal of Psychiatry in order to prove the link between mentally ill people not taking their medicine, but rather using drugs, and the correlation of these factors to violence. Swartz claims that people who are mentally unstable in addition to abusing drugs would be more likely to partake in violent crimes. Swartz conducted a study in order to prove his claims. In his study, 331 people were studied through interviews, conversations with family members. Swartz also looked into the individuals’ mental health background to find any violent acts done within 4 months of being hospitalized for their illness. From this research study, it was found that substance abuse, along with mental illness often result

Dispite the correlation between mental illness and violence being modest, those suffering from mental illnesses are at an increased risk of commiting violence. Mental illness as described by Dennis Howitt (2011) is a diversity of conditions where the characteristics are impotent and afflicting impairment in the psychological functioning of a person. This definition provided by Howitt is quite broad and the focus here will be on mental illness caused by alchol/drug abuse; personality disorders such as major depressive disorders, anxiety disorders, impulse disorders; and also on schizophrenia spectrum disorders. As Monohan (1992) explains, while many people would prefer to deny that mental health disorders and violence are in assosciation

In order to understand what role mental illness plays when it comes to violence, it is vital to examine current empirical data surrounding the issue. According to a study by American Psychiatrist Paul S. Appelbaum, the mentally ill are responsible for only 3% to 5% of crimes in the United States. (4) Additionally, according to the National Center for Health statistics, fewer than 5% of of the 120,00 gun-related murders in the United States between the years 2001 and 2010 were carried out by people diagnosed with mental illnesses. (4) The most prominent indicators of a person’s propensity for violence are substance abuse and a history of domestic violence. (6) Taking this into consideration, it would be counterproductive to focus preventative

There are millions of people each year affected by mental illness, and only about half receive treatment for their diseases. The National Survey on Drug Use and Health defines serious mental illness as: a mental behavior or emotional disorder, resulting in serious functional impairment, which substantially interferes with or limits one or more major activities. (4) This disease can play a big role in events such as mass or public shootings. Although there is no good research on links between mental illness and gun violence, there are many cases to be examined where mentally ill people turned into mass killers. Such as James Holmes who we all know from the mass shooting at the Aurora, Colorado movie theatre. He had previously seen three health doctors before the shooting, and at least one of them believed that he had a mental disorder and could be dangerous but nothing was ever done. Even though we have laws restricting