Insane Americas Criminal Treatment of Mental Illness Review

Open up Preview

Encounter a Problem?

Nosotros'd love your help. Let us know what's wrong with this preview of Insane by Alisa Roth.

Thanks for telling us well-nigh the trouble.

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign upward.

Reader Q&A

To inquire other readers questions virtually Insane, please sign upwardly.

Be the first to ask a question about Insane

Community Reviews

 · 874 ratings  · 131 reviews
Start your review of Insane: America'south Criminal Treatment of Mental Illness
Barbara
Sep 07, 2018 rated information technology actually liked it

4.5 stars

As a 2014-2015 'Soros Justice Swain', investigative announcer Alisa Roth spent a yr studying the plight of mentally ill prisoners in the U.S. Criminal Justice System. Roth visited jails and prisons in New York, Illinois, California, Georgia, and Oklahoma. She also interviewed mentally ill subjects and their families; consulted experts; perused medical and jail records; inspected court reports and other public documents; and read paper articles, books, and other source material

4.5 stars

Every bit a 2014-2015 'Soros Justice Fellow', investigative journalist Alisa Roth spent a year studying the plight of mentally ill prisoners in the U.Due south. Criminal Justice Arrangement. Roth visited jails and prisons in New York, Illinois, California, Georgia, and Oklahoma. She also interviewed mentally sick subjects and their families; consulted experts; perused medical and jail records; inspected court reports and other public documents; and read newspaper manufactures, books, and other source materials.


Alisa Roth

Roth found that almost every correctional facility in the land has a large number of prisoners with mental illness. Mental illness is a term that includes a wide assortment of disorders that affect a person'south mood, thinking, and behavior. Examples are anxiety disorders; addictive behaviors; bipolar disorder; and schizophrenia.

Diagnosing and treating mental illness is difficult because at that place is no definitive test, and finding reliable drugs is ofttimes a matter of trial and error. Medical professionals have found that it'south difficult to find the correct dosages; medications sometimes stop working; and at that place can be serious side effects.

Mental illness is a challenge fifty-fifty in the noncombatant community - with bereft handling centers and the like - but the problem is exacerbated in jails and prisons. Mentally ill people who are incarcerated by and large go lilliputian or no handling, and - upon release - are frequently sicker than when they went in.

Ane reason for this is the difficulty of diagnosing mental illness in the jail population. Some institutions - especially big ones - often try. In Melt County Jail in Chicago, for instance, a social worker oversees intake exams for new arrivals, looking for clues about mental health. This is frequently difficult, since mentally sick detainees often don't know - or don't want to talk most - their mental health issues. Ane tactic is to talk well-nigh medical problems, like blood pressure or diabetes, and inquire, "Where did you become help?" The private might then accidently mention a psychiatric infirmary.

Administrators at Cook County Jail assert that - with recent improvements in the facility - a mentally sick prisoner can at present get individual therapy, grouping therapy, and special housing.....and that many of the institute's corrections officers are trained to work with people with mental illness. This is not typical, however, of most prisons in the country.


Cook County Jail


A therapy session

*****

The author was permitted to observe the Twin Towers Correctional Facility at the Los Angeles Canton Jail, which is 1 of the biggest providers of psychiatric care in the country. The Twin Towers Facility houses the sickest inmates in Los Angeles - people who tin can't share a cell with another person and who aren't permitted to wear regulation jail attire - amorphous pants and a scrub shirt. Instead, the mentally ill prisoners wear shapeless smocks made of quilted material that is supposed to be indestructible, so they can't be torn or tied into a noose. Patients are not offered any therapy, and mental health care consists entirely of medication and medication management.


The Twin Towers Correctional Facility


Inside the Twin Towers

When Roth peered into 1 of the cells in the Twin Towers Facility, she saw a prisoner wrapped in a dark blue blanket-cocoon lying on the lower bunk. The inmate's unit of measurement was covered in feces, which was spattered on the border of the top bunk; rubbed on the flooring; smeared in circles on the walls, and used every bit paste to stick sheets of paper towels to the wall - like a row of artworks. This wasn't an isolated incident, as many mentally ill prisoners 'decorate' their cells with carrion. Even worse, one corrections officeholder described a prisoner who ate his feces, then drank water from the toilet.


A prisoner in his cell

Roth notes that prisoners in the Twin Towers are only allowed out of their cells in handcuffs or handcuffs and leg shackles - and some reject to come out of their cells at all. These restrictions are necessary because corrections officers are not medically trained specialists schooled to manage the mentally ill; instead, they're law enforcement personnel taught to maintain safety.


A prisoner being handcuffed


A prisoner chained to a table

The Los Angeles Canton Jail does have a hospital unit, chosen the Forensic Inpatient Unit of measurement (FIP), which is a licenced acute psychiatric ward for the very sickest inmates. Unfortunately, the FIP doesn't have nearly enough beds to accomodate all the prisoners who belong at that place.

*****

The virtually debilitating form of incarceration in whatever corrections establish is solitary solitude - the practise of keeping a person lonely in a pocket-size cell for 23 or more hours per twenty-four hours for weeks, months, years, or even decades at a time. Prisoners are generally placed in solitary for bad behavior.....and people with astringent mental affliction are amid the most likely prisoners to cease upwardly at that place. Beingness alone and cut off from human interaction tin cause or aggravate symptoms of psychosis such as hallucinations, paronoia, sleeplessness, and self-harm.....and mental health treatment in 'the hole' is minimal or non-existent.


A solitary confinement cell

The author mentions Brian Nelson, who spent 23 years in solitary confinement (mostly at the now closed supermax Tamms Correctional Center in Illinois) subsequently beingness convicted of accessory to murder. Other harsh disciplinary measures used in prisons are hog-tying or cutting off water to cells.....and again the mentally sick are the most probable recipients.

There are many stories virtually the shoddy mental wellness care that people get in jails and prisons. In a 2017 class activeness lawsuit, prisoners at the federal penitentiary in Lewisberg, Pennsylvania claimed that the Bureau of Prisons provides little one-on-one counseling and that the 'supposed' counseling by and large consists of conversations through cell doors, which could easily exist overheard by others. Even worse: "care for people with mental illness at Lewisburg consist of staff passing out coloring books and puzzles and calling it 'treatment'."

The writer found similiar stories in almost all the instutions she investigated. The reasons prisons can't effectively deal with mentally sick people include:
- Overcrowding. A large population of very sick people are jammed into facilities that weren't designed for and then many individuals.
- Lack of staff. There aren't enough medical personnel and corrections officers considering the working conditions are difficult; prisons are oftentimes in inconvenient or remote locations; and the pay is low.

Information technology's as well of import to note that race and poverty overlap with mental illness in the criminal justice system, creating a down trajectory. The result is that in one case an indigent mentally sick person is arrested, he/she can't make bail, can't cope with being incarcerated, becomes disruptive, gets a longer sentence, becomes sicker....and then on. It's a vicious wheel. This is peculiarly troubling among African-Americans and Hispanics, because they make up a large percent of the prison population.

*****

To illustrate her points most mentally ill people in the criminal justice organisation, the author presents a number of case studies. I'll requite some examples.

- In March, 2006 former firefighter and family unit man Bryan Allen Sanderson was arrested for indecent exposure in a South Carolina motel. At the fourth dimension of his arrest Sanderson was manic and hearing voices in his head. Beingness in jail made Sanderson'due south symptoms worse, and he smeared feces around his cell and threatened officers and other prisoners. Sanderson was put in lonely confinement where he connected to cause trouble by throwing his food instead of eating it. Finally, 5 months after he was arrested, Sanderson appeared earlier a approximate and accepted a plea for fourth dimension served. All the same, the ordeal and its aftermath resulted in Sanderson losing his family, his livelihood, and his eye-class life.

- In 2012 Darren Rainey was serving a judgement for cocaine possession in a Florida prison. Being diagnosed with schizophrenia, Rainey was housed in a unit for mentally ill inmates. When corrections officers constitute that Rainey had smeared his cell with carrion he was taken to a 'special shower' to clean up. At 160 degrees, the h2o temperature in the shower far exceeded the legal limit of 120 degrees. The officers left Rainey in the scalding water for ii hours, by which time he was expressionless and his reddened skin was peeling 'like fruit ringlet-ups.' Prisoners and ex-convicts claim that abuse like this is the norm (though it doesn't usually get equally far as murder).


Darren Rainey Illustration past Mark Espinosa

- Edgar Coleman, a onetime football game player and instructor, was arrested by the University of Minnesota police over 200 times between 1996 and 2012....and that doesn't include the myriad times he was just shooed along. Coleman would stay in the school's buildings at night and steal food from buffet lines. Sometimes the police would accept Coleman to jail, sometimes to a homeless shelter, merely he was soon dorsum on the streets. Coleman is dubbed a 'super-utilizer' - a person who cycles in and out of jail, getting re-arrested shortly subsequently being released.

*****

There may be a light at the end of a (very long) tunnel since some communities are trying to amend weather for mentally ill prisoners, including Cook Land and Los Angeles (mentioned above) and Riker's Isle in New York City - which is increasing the number of special mental health units called the 'Program to Accelerate Clinical Effectiveness (PACE).'


Mental Health Unit at Riker's Island

According to Roth, what may really plough the tide "is the consensus that what we're doing is wrong. Whether we're talking nigh the people who are locked up and their families, or the corrections officers, or the prosecutors, the defense attorneys, the judges, the doctors — you name it. They're in agreement that what we're doing is not working, that information technology's counterproductive, that we need to change. We need to effigy out how to come up to a consensus virtually what that alter looks similar, but at to the lowest degree we're all on the same page – that this is not the style it should be and that nobody is benefiting from this situation."

This is a well-researched and well-written treatise on mental illness and the U.S. Justice System. Recommended to people interested in the topic.

You lot can follow my reviews at https://reviewsbybarbsaffer.blogspot....

...more
Jaidee
3 "torn, beholden, mixed" stars !!

Thanks to Netgalley, the author and Perseus Books for an e-re-create. This book was originally published in 2018. This edition was released June 2020. I am providing my honest review.

This is a book that is very difficult to both rate and review. I accept so many feelings and opinions in this subject matter. I practise non wish to talk over why in this review.

The author has done a hell of a lot of inquiry, likewise as interviews and getting quite involved in the very inter

three "torn, appreciative, mixed" stars !!

Thank you lot to Netgalley, the author and Perseus Books for an eastward-copy. This book was originally published in 2018. This edition was released June 2020. I am providing my honest review.

This is a volume that is very hard to both rate and review. I have so many feelings and opinions in this subject area matter. I do non wish to discuss why in this review.

The author has done a hell of a lot of research, likewise as interviews and getting quite involved in the very interesting and compelling case studies she presented so well in this volume. She appears to do her very all-time to remain neutral and not-partisan in her arroyo. She also does not lay blame with whatever particular group as to why the system is so cleaved not simply for severely mentally ill prisoners but also the general forensic population, the workers in the system, the judicial system and the medical/ psychiatric system. For many readers this will be very heart-opening and educational. For me, not and so much.

What would accept been very helpful additions to this book:

1. a more than clear understanding on the effects of gender, socioeconomic status and race on treatment in prison
2. a clearer definition of the population studied....mental health ranges from generalized feet disorder to paranoid schizophrenia....huge numbers are included in the percentages yet the book focused on those with severe psychotic disorders
3. some focus on the victims of both trigger-happy and non-violent crimes and the effects that is has on them both from a mental wellness and quality of life perspective
four. how brain injuries, neurological disorders, learning disabilities and developmental delays coaction with mental health conditions in this population
5. the role of substance misuse
6. the contribution of malignant personality disorders to the commission of crimes and their coaction with those with co-exisitng severe mental wellness disorders
7. the information is often scattered....a synopsis at the end of each chapter also as charts and menstruum charts would take also added to absorbing the info in the book
8. more accent on possible solutions that would exist helpful for all....severely mentally sick prisoners, the general prison population and very importantly victims of trigger-happy crime every bit well.

A valiant effort at presenting an extremely important subject area matter. Certainly a pretty practiced book for those with niggling knowledge of the subject surface area.

...more than
JEN A
May 22, 2020 rated information technology actually liked it
I received an advanced copy of this book from Internet Galley and the publisher in return for an honest review. The release date for this book is 9 June 2020

Full disclosure with this, I have suffered with mental illness my entire life so whatever work that deals with information technology draws my attention. Luckily, I take never been diagnosed with bipolar disorder or schizophrenia which is talked near a lot in this book nor have I been incarcerated. That beingness said, I found the author's correlations with regards to menta

I received an advanced copy of this book from Net Galley and the publisher in render for an honest review. The release date for this book is ix June 2020

Full disclosure with this, I accept suffered with mental affliction my unabridged life and so any work that deals with it draws my attention. Luckily, I have never been diagnosed with bipolar disorder or schizophrenia which is talked nigh a lot in this book nor take I been incarcerated. That being said, I plant the author's correlations with regards to mental health and the penal system to be very eye-opening. It is definitely a shame in how our country deals with mental illness and this is just one more bespeak of reference. I feel the writer was very curtailed in making their betoken.

...more than
Jake
May 03, 2018 rated information technology it was amazing
Some sources say, upon his journeying to the continent of north America the famous British writer, Charles Dickens, creator of Oliver twist, defender of humanity, had sworn to himself to see two things in this one time new world.
1. Niagara falls
2. Eastern state penitentiary. (The famous Philadelphia based prison.)
While I can not comment on his experiences at the famous waterfall, I volition present a musing of his - upon visiting the prison house:

"I hold this slow and daily tampering with the mysteries of the

Some sources say, upon his journey to the continent of north America the famous British writer, Charles Dickens, creator of Oliver twist, defender of humanity, had sworn to himself to see two things in this in one case new globe.
1. Niagara falls
two. Eastern state penitentiary. (The famous Philadelphia based prison house.)
While I can not comment on his experiences at the famous waterfall, I will present a musing of his - upon visiting the prison:

"I hold this tiresome and daily tampering with the mysteries of the brain to be immeasurably worse than whatever torture of the body; and because its ghastly signs and tokens are not so palpable to the eye and sense of touch as scars upon the flesh; because its wounds are not upon the surface, and information technology extorts few cries that human ears can hear; therefore the more I denounce it, as a secret punishment which slumbering humanity is not roused up to stay."

Within this prison, each person was fabricated to sit solitary. To suffer and to mourn for their crimes. "In penitence" .
In short, after being divers by the police force as a criminal, the punishment was intense isolation.
Just what becomes of a homo when alone in his head? Madness. Apparently.
Dickens noted this. And many others accept spoken the words of homo's inherent sociability as a cardinal psychological trait. Equally it says in genesis, "man is non meant to be alone".
Or as Aristotle said in his politics "Homo is by nature a social animal".
Such truisms are oft repeated and so let united states not pretend they do not be.

Now of form, this volume is not about the social state of homo's existence. It is rather about some deeply disturbing ideas we sweep under the rug. I will convey these ideas in isolated sentences. Numbered.

ane. Mental illness is an illness .

It is non cancer, information technology is not diabetes, but is nevertheless serious. I do not need to echo this. Information technology is a biological malady. An actual physical, mechanical assortment of cause and issue. Information technology is non only a conceptual issue, "just in one's head", but one that is rooted within physicality.
This is - at this betoken inside our modern country of scientific enquiry - an undeniable fact.

2. Mental pain, is real pain.

Hurting - whether caused from a stabbing, or a heartbreak from thy dear - is real.
Yep. I hateful physiologically,or mechanically . The neuro chemistry is a matter. Information technology releases "pain chemicals" to use absurdly crude neuroanatomy. It is by all metrics physical responses in both mental and bodily hurting. To deny such matter is to forget your own memories.

3. The American judicial organization is prejudiced, and has many issues. Many people endure needlessly due to our institutions.

4. Many people who endure have mental affliction.
To paraphrase a line near the get-go of the book, one of the main groups in our lodge to suffer within america's wacky penal arrangement is the mentally ill.

Proceed points 1, 2, and 4 in mind.
These people, who dream of suicide- similar Lenny for his farm in of mice and men - who suffer the whims and chaos of their brains. Who receive no sympathy only because the "ghastly signs and tokens are not and so palpable to the center and sense of touch on as scars upon the flesh; because its wounds are not upon the surface" suffer. Dearly and horribly.

Despite modern advancements in psychology, and neuroscience nosotros let them continue to suffer - with lilliputian to no remorse.
We proceed to stigmatize them just because we simply practice non feel their hurting. It is like the story told in Smith'due south theory of moral sentiments where the human hears of the many that died of an earth quake across the world.
Why the hell should that homo hearing of tragedy care when he DOES NOT Experience THEIR Hurting. He does not need to intendance. And as such. He usually will not.

This wonderful book has a humanist undertone. Its title starts with the irony of our system . We must exist "insane" to treat these "crazy" people so poorly. The writing is full of the stories and examples of these men and women that suffered from our shitty institutions. The writer does a phenomenal chore conveying the suffering of these poor souls by telling the stories of the ills nosotros have washed. Information technology saddens me that there are non more books to recognize the clear man tragedy inside our own social club, but as a flip side, it securely impresses me that this author is gifted with such a slap-up eye. Well done.

With no reluctance at all - I highly recommend this volume to anyone that cares about human suffering. And to those that give a shit regarding many of our deeply existential societal issues. For those, it will serve to exist a gut wrenching read, but one worthwhile nonetheless.

I do hope that we can modify these issues soon.

Thank you Alisa Roth!

...more
JEN A
Full disclosure with this, I accept suffered with mental illness my entire life so any work that deals with information technology draws my attention. Luckily, I take never been diagnosed with bipolar disorder or schizophrenia which is talked about a lot in this book nor have I been incarcerated. That existence said, I institute the writer's correlations with regards to mental health and the penal arrangement to be very centre-opening. Information technology is definitely a shame in how our country deals with mental illness and this is but i more po Total disclosure with this, I have suffered with mental illness my entire life so any work that deals with it draws my attention. Luckily, I have never been diagnosed with bipolar disorder or schizophrenia which is talked well-nigh a lot in this book nor have I been incarcerated. That being said, I institute the author's correlations with regards to mental health and the penal system to be very eye-opening. It is definitely a shame in how our country deals with mental illness and this is just ane more than bespeak of reference. I feel the author was very concise in making their bespeak. ...more than
Lmcelebre
Jul 28, 2018 rated information technology really liked it
Roth does a great task of exposing some of the real inadequacies in our criminal justice system as they chronicle to mental wellness and I remember her appraisement of the situation is fair and accurate. While I don't retrieve she necessarily brings us any closer to resolution, I think her book may help to open upwards a dialogue that needs to happen if nosotros're e'er going to notice solutions.
Roth does a great chore of exposing some of the real inadequacies in our criminal justice system equally they chronicle to mental health and I remember her appraisal of the situation is fair and accurate. While I don't remember she necessarily brings us whatever closer to resolution, I think her book may assistance to open up up a dialogue that needs to happen if nosotros're ever going to find solutions.
...more
Patricia Baker
equally someone who used to piece of work in the medical field, I can say this author has it right. the handling of those who are mentally ill should not exist placed in a jail, only in a carve up facility that can oversee the mentally ill and help them get back on their feet. so often there is no place to put a person on the edge of insanity. mental health establishment are usually full and not accepting any new person. the jail is wrong because it does not accost the central result of why the person is in cust equally someone who used to work in the medical field, I can say this author has information technology right. the treatment of those who are mentally sick should not be placed in a jail, but in a separate facility that can oversee the mentally ill and assist them get back on their feet. so often at that place is no place to put a person on the edge of insanity. mental health institution are commonly full and not accepting any new person. the jail is incorrect because it does not address the fundamental consequence of why the person is in custody. practice like the idea of more mental health training for those first responders whether they are EMT, police or fire. as well like the thought of having a continued oversight from the time they are get-go encountered to the time they are released to housing and medical followup. I wish the general public would view mental health the same manner it views cardiac, diabetes, or any other disease. there will exist times of abatement of symptoms and there will be flareups. no 1 turns their back of the person needing some other cardiac cath or med change. so there should be no back turning of the person with mental illness. ...more than
Kristen
Jun 18, 2018 rated information technology actually liked it
This was a hard, difficult, Difficult book to read, but I wish we were having more conversations about the topic. This was a really in-depth look at the prison system in America and how prisons treat and are sometimes asked to care for those with mental illness. With very little mental health care being affordable or available for a number of Americans, prisons are inundation with inmates who take some blazon of mental illness for a number of reasons. And the state of prisons also exacerbates mental illnes This was a hard, difficult, Difficult volume to read, but I wish nosotros were having more conversations almost the topic. This was a really in-depth wait at the prison system in America and how prisons treat and are sometimes asked to intendance for those with mental disease. With very petty mental wellness care being affordable or available for a number of Americans, prisons are inundation with inmates who have some blazon of mental illness for a number of reasons. And the state of prisons also exacerbates mental illness for about of the prisoners in that location. In addition, Roth does a fabulous job examining how the police force treat those with mental affliction. It'south scary and agonizing and sorry - and nosotros need to do something nearly it. If you aren't motivated to learn more than about these issues and/or do something to advocate for ameliorate policies around mental illness and the criminal justice system later on reading this book, I can't imagine what would move you. ...more
John-andrew
Jun 05, 2018 rated it information technology was amazing
Whatever you think life is like backside confined, think again. Roth's intimate yet powerful look at how our prison house system handles mentally ill inmates will take you through the pits of hell and back once more. This left me with more questions than answers, and more frustrated than angry. We are the richest state in the world even so we are unable to afford adequate mental wellness care for those who demand information technology nigh? Are we so bereft of a common social conscience that we're unable to intendance for our fellow citizens Whatever y'all think life is like behind confined, think once more. Roth'southward intimate withal powerful await at how our prison organization handles mentally sick inmates will have yous through the pits of hell and back again. This left me with more questions than answers, and more frustrated than angry. Nosotros are the richest state in the earth yet we are unable to afford adequate mental health care for those who need it most? Are we and so bereft of a mutual social censor that we're unable to care for our fellow citizens? These are among the myriad questions I wrestled with while reading her detailed accounts of prisoners, the system in which they're caught, and the families on the exterior who suffer. Many of our mentally ill wind up there because they're mentally ill, non considering they're criminals. But once inside the system, their lives are forever cleaved. ...more than
Rheama Heather
Mar 10, 2021 rated information technology really liked it
Meticulously researched, packed with stats, and oh so depressing. Not gonna lie, information technology was hard for me to get through. The writing is highly academic, and the subject matter is dour.

I mostly agree with the author. Mental health care should exist focused on delivering what the patient needs.

But. When it comes to violent criminals, rapists, human traffickers, and pedophiles, many of them qualify every bit mentally ill. And (it'south ugly so I'll just say information technology) - I don't care. For me, in one case you cross over into that t

Meticulously researched, packed with stats, and oh and then depressing. Non gonna lie, information technology was difficult for me to become through. The writing is highly academic, and the discipline matter is bleak.

I more often than not agree with the author. Mental health intendance should be focused on delivering what the patient needs.

But. When it comes to tearing criminals, rapists, human traffickers, and pedophiles, many of them authorize as mentally ill. And (it's ugly and then I'll just say it) - I don't care. For me, one time you cantankerous over into that territory, you're irredeemable to society, and no revenue enhancement dollars should exist wasted catering to your needs.

For all the OTHER mentally ill patients / prisoners out there, yes, nosotros can and should do much better than this.

...more
Psychonaut
Jun 13, 2019 rated it actually liked it
As a jail therapist, I can say that, unfortunately, every bit of this is accurate.
Thomas Edmund
Jan x, 2020 rated information technology actually liked it
It's hard to choice who to recommend Insane to - one the 1 paw as a new introduction to the connections between mental health, criminal activeness and incarceration I imagine the tome would exist illuminating and harrowing at once. For people with feel in the field etc, even non-The states citizens there isn't besides much surprising contained within the pages. The issues facing the mental health field and people experiencing challenges are fairly like across Western nations.

What I think Roth does part

It'south difficult to pick who to recommend Insane to - 1 the one manus equally a new introduction to the connections betwixt mental wellness, criminal activeness and incarceration I imagine the tome would exist illuminating and harrowing at in one case. For people with experience in the field etc, fifty-fifty non-U.s. citizens there isn't too much surprising contained within the pages. The issues facing the mental health field and people experiencing challenges are adequately similar beyond Western nations.

What I think Roth does especially well is explain the adept, the bad and the ugly of the situation, while the content is predominantly negative in terms of poor outcomes for people with mental illnesses, and major challenges for professionals within the field Roth does explicate some success stories, and offer promise for the futurity.

My merely beefiness with the book is that at times it felt mired in the statistics that ultimately told the same story over and once more. I realize of grade that is function of the betoken, nevertheless it did feel that some of the first sections could have been shortened and focused more than on the harrowing individual tales.

Overall a timely book and a good relate of the ongoing challenges for people with mental illnesses and the heavy conundrums that face people making decisions in the justice system.

...more
Wendi Lee
While at times dry, this was an informative and sometimes wrenching book about how and why prisons across America have such large populations of mentally ill inmates.
O
Mar 16, 2019 rated it it was amazing
This book is horrifying, simply such a necessary read. Another example of how "the greatest state in the world" tin can be extremely astern and evil in the way nosotros treat sure groups of people. This volume is horrifying, but such a necessary read. Another example of how "the greatest state in the world" can be extremely backward and evil in the way we treat sure groups of people. ...more
Angela Blood
Aug 06, 2018 rated information technology really liked it
This book got me thinking about our current policies and procedures regarding mentally ill criminals and it seemed very well-researched. In that location are some disturbing stories and many of the situations were like ones my husband encountered while working at a state-run mental hospital. With his experiences at that place, the information seemed all the more believable and flabbergasting at the same time.
Steven Pugh
April 08, 2018 rated information technology information technology was amazing
This is an important book that tells about people subconscious behind bars, struggling with mental affliction, the criminal justice system, and the needs of jails and prisons for strict command. This book too relates the stories about the valiant, dedicated people trying to change an atrocious organisation.

The author does a wonderful chore taking an emotionally taxing and agonizing topic and making information technology readable. A less skilled author may have written a book nearly an important topic like this and sounded likewise preachy

This is an important book that tells about people subconscious behind confined, struggling with mental illness, the criminal justice system, and the needs of jails and prisons for strict control. This volume besides relates the stories about the valiant, dedicated people trying to change an awful system.

The author does a wonderful job taking an emotionally taxing and disturbing topic and making it readable. A less skilled author may have written a book about an important topic similar this and sounded likewise preachy and continuously condemned the club that allows such horrors to take identify. Alisa Roth told these silenced peoples' stories with both centre and stinging truth.

I hope this book helps fulfills Churchill'south quote about America "Y'all can always count on Americans to exercise the right thing - afterwards they've tried everything else" regarding people with mental illness trapped in jails and prisons, considering we certain seem to be incorrect affair right at present.

...more
David Provost
Jun 03, 2018 rated it really liked information technology
As someone who has worked in the supportive housing field for the past ten years, I can say that Ms. Roth has captured the essence of one of the United State'south largest social blunders - the criminalization of mental illness, accurately and sympathetically. The book is objective in fashion. It's a bit of page turner to kick.

This is a must read for anyone who is interested in the welfare of the mentally ill and homeless amid us.

Equally someone who has worked in the supportive housing field for the past x years, I tin say that Ms. Roth has captured the essence of one of the United State's largest social blunders - the criminalization of mental illness, accurately and sympathetically. The book is objective in fashion. It'south a bit of page turner to boot.

This is a must read for anyone who is interested in the welfare of the mentally ill and homeless among us.

...more
Carrie
Mar 31, 2019 rated it really liked it
An of import topic presented in a well-researched way. Our system definitely needs reform. Good to run into some cities have started to implement new strategies, but we still take a long way to go.
Alexis
Dec 27, 2019 rated it information technology was amazing
We often hear nigh mental illness in connection with criminal justice when there's a high profile offense and people rush to offer explanations (usually when the defendant is white). But the intersection of the two is much greater, and more tragic.

While people ofttimes link the issue of mental illness in correctional institutions to deinstitutionalization, the problem is much more complex and fragmented, as Alisa Roth outlines in her heartbreaking, enraging book. She goes through a variety of setti

We often hear about mental illness in connexion with criminal justice when there's a high profile crime and people rush to offer explanations (usually when the defendant is white). Simply the intersection of the two is much greater, and more tragic.

While people often link the issue of mental illness in correctional institutions to deinstitutionalization, the problem is much more complex and fragmented, every bit Alisa Roth outlines in her heartbreaking, enraging book. She goes through a multifariousness of settings to bear witness how decisions and policies, often made in isolation, combine to create a horror. Jails are our largest provider of mental wellness intendance. In 2017, 43% of inmates at Rikers Isle had a mental illness. 1/4 of fatal police shootings involve a person with mental disease. Suicide is the leading cause of death in jails.

Jails are expected to fulfill contradictory functions: to control inmates, and also to care for their illness. They lack the chapters to do the latter, even in amend run institutions or where improvements are existence fabricated. In some states, like Alabama, it's arguable equally to whether they are trying. The desire to control inevitably results in restrictions on inmates that are counterproductive to treatment, even when the officers are actually trained in dealing with mental affliction. The desire to punish as well means that inmates lose "privileges" such as visits and exercise which are shown to ameliorate treatment outcomes.

The means in which bureaucracy frustrates itself are also evident. HIPAA ways that corrections staff cannot exist given medical information, fifty-fifty though they are effectively present for therapy and could employ the information to treat inmates amend. The 1965 Medicaid law prohibits federal funds from being used for large institutions. This means that when inmates are hospitalized, the state must pay for it themselves--increasing the incentive to continue costs downwardly. States spend, on average, only $105 per capita on mental wellness, and there is a significant shortage of mental wellness care. forty% of psychiatrists do non accept insurance (though Roth cautions that since psychiatrists may operate dual practices, this may only reflect their private do). Since prisons are often in remote locations they struggle to recruit staff, and even better located institutions don't pay competitively.

Politically, mental wellness is not a high priority, much less for those who accept committed crimes. Many of those crimes are not significant, only mentally ill inmates are less likely to get bail. The long process of pretrial detention, waiting for competency hearings, and the slow wheels of the system worsen their illness. One of the more than blackly comic episodes involves inmates watching Law & Gild so they can pass their competency hearings. When they go out of jail, they don't accept proficient access to mental health care, and then a bicycle repeats. Some of the vivid spots in the story involve departments that are making an effort to retrain officers and cities that are improving mental wellness intendance.

There is so much to this book--even though information technology's non exceptionally long. Roth visited institutions in various parts of the state and uses inmate stories--some graphic--to show the workings of the organisation. There are and so many problems, and then many intersecting parts, that I didn't even know where to begin to get-go solving it.

...more
April Helms
Jun 27, 2021 rated information technology actually liked it
I finished this volume this afternoon (for my volume club), and notwithstanding trying to absorb everything. Roth's book is adequately short, but packs a heck of a punch in terms of exposing at so many levels how poorly this country handles mental health bug, especially when information technology comes to incarceration. Nosotros do then many things in this country that actually fuel the various prison pipelines, and those who have a mental illness particularly get defenseless up in a fell cycle of imprisonment and release considering resources I finished this book this afternoon (for my book club), and still trying to absorb everything. Roth's book is adequately short, but packs a heck of a dial in terms of exposing at and then many levels how poorly this country handles mental health issues, peculiarly when it comes to incarceration. We do and so many things in this country that really fuel the various prison pipelines, and those who take a mental illness especially get defenseless up in a vicious bike of imprisonment and release because resources are so scant and scattered. One story, for instance, relates how one person awaiting sentencing waited four months for a psychiatric evaluation. Basically, everything from what is criminalized, to solitary confinement, to bail problems, to how prisons are fix up, how law enforcement frequently has as much — if not more — of a voice when it comes to deciding who gets intendance in what environs (and this is something the vast majority of corrections officers or law officers really don't have the training for) — it sets out most vulnerable up for failure. Not to mention the lack of grooming (or incentive) for deescalating a situation, and having trained mental health providers on site at prisons and infirmary facilities. Roth does show some bright spots by illustrating promising programs that seem to exist working at reducing the numbers of mentally ill who spend fourth dimension in a prison house, and how many become back to prison, such equally the Restoration Centre in San Antonio and CIT training for police force. Simply obviously, much still needs to be washed on many fronts. Roth includes numerous interviews with those who have mental illness who have gone through the criminal justice organization, too as their families.

The simply nit I accept is that the book goes into how a lot of medical personnel working a prisons are later found to have rap sheets themselves. However, it is not addressed whether they were effective at their jobs. If they were doing a proficient task, I'd say they probably had qualifications that made them well-suited to helping out prisoners, especially since in that location is a paucity of professionals willing to become into this field. Later in the book, it goes into the difficulties that those with a record- especially those with a mental disease- take in finding housing and jobs. How nearly incommunicable information technology is to get a 2d chance. I institute information technology an odd condemnation for a book that seeks to bring empathy for the incarcerated and formerly imprisoned. If at that place were issues in general, that's ane matter, merely to say a medical professional person was a problem because he or she had a tape (and not get into task operation, save in one case where it did seem to be an issue) was a small fumble. Aside from this, I highly recommend this for anyone interested in how deeply flawed our criminal justice system is.

...more
Georgie Laird
!! Please note: This book does include a number of trigger warnings- namely information technology discusses topics such as cocky-harm and suicide. It is also somewhat graphic, as there are detailed descriptions of self-mutilation and bodily fluids. !!

Roth provides an all-encompassing and well-researched analytic overview pertaining to the over-representation of mental illness in the American prison system. I particularly appreciated the inclusion of numerous instance studies from a range of states - it clearly highlights curr

!! Please annotation: This volume does include a number of trigger warnings- namely it discusses topics such as self-damage and suicide. Information technology is also somewhat graphic, equally there are detailed descriptions of self-mutilation and actual fluids. !!

Roth provides an all-encompassing and well-researched analytic overview pertaining to the over-representation of mental affliction in the American prison arrangement. I particularly appreciated the inclusion of numerous instance studies from a range of states - it clearly highlights current decrepit prison conditions and the ill-preparedness of the justice organisation (as a whole) to adequately treat individuals in a manner that is fair and humane. Although this book focuses on the American prison house system (statistically in item), such problems are evident worldwide.

I would have liked more discussion around potential initiatives regarding improvement, particularly community- based, as this was only lightly touched upon.

Regardless, I retrieve this is a must-read (particularly for those in the criminology and constabulary sectors).

...more
Erika Skarlupka
A must read for anyone concerned with mental health and prison systems in America. The failings of the healthcare and criminal justice systems in this country accept lead to an outright crunch for those with mental affliction. Often neglected and abused in jails and prisons they are left to suffer, unable to advocate for themselves. This is a shocking investigation into how some changes are existence made, but the glaring short comings of what is, in truth, many broken systems.

Thanks to Netgalley for thursday

A must read for anyone concerned with mental health and prison house systems in America. The failings of the healthcare and criminal justice systems in this state have lead to an outright crunch for those with mental disease. Ofttimes neglected and abused in jails and prisons they are left to suffer, unable to advocate for themselves. This is a shocking investigation into how some changes are being made, but the glaring brusk comings of what is, in truth, many broken systems.

Cheers to Netgalley for this re-create in return for my honest review.

...more than
Hailey
Apr 09, 2019 rated it actually liked it
Insane was a nonfiction novel by Alisa Roth that gives an Amazing background for people interested in the prison house sysetem and mental wellness. I liked this book a lot, and the onle reason I gave it a 4 star rating was because I wished information technology would have had more than stories similar in the start.
Rachel Willis
Jan 21, 2019 rated it actually liked information technology
A tough only necessary read. Roth details the funneling of the mentally ill into the criminal justice system and why this is a problem.
Monica
Feb 11, 2019 rated it really liked it
Narrative could have been meliorate just topic is fascinating and horrifying.
Sarah -  All The Book Blog Names Are Taken
Absolutely riveting. And so much in both systems are screwed-upwardly. A serious overhaul of both is needed. Review to come.
Leanne Ellis
Aug 12, 2019 rated information technology really liked it
The cruelty of this land to its almost vulnerable citizens is insane.
Isabelle reads a book a day because she has no friends
Amazing, center-opening, outraging. A must read.
Laura Detrick
Nov 21, 2021 rated it actually liked information technology
Nonfiction Nov 2021 prompt: Treatment

This book was sad only non surprising. I promise we are moving in the right direction, only movement seems so slow so small that it is hard to run into.

Clarissa Lynn
Aug 24, 2018 rated information technology really liked it
Well researched and relevant but heavy as Roth offers some difficult things to contemplate including questioning current norms in locking away people labeled "insane" without access to treatment. Well researched and relevant but heavy as Roth offers some hard things to contemplate including questioning electric current norms in locking away people labeled "insane" without access to treatment. ...more

News & Interviews

The internet, it's rubber to say, has inverse a lot of things. Massive worldwide communication systems accept a mode of doing that.   1 of the more...
"40 pct of psychiatrists don't accept whatever insurance; more than than one-half of states have a critical shortage of psychiatrists who accept information technology." — 0 likes
More quotes…

Welcome dorsum. Only a moment while we sign y'all in to your Goodreads account.

Login animation

simssposing1991.blogspot.com

Source: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/35959786

0 Response to "Insane Americas Criminal Treatment of Mental Illness Review"

Publicar un comentario

Iklan Atas Artikel

Iklan Tengah Artikel 1

Iklan Tengah Artikel 2

Iklan Bawah Artikel