Inventing the Crime Of Mental Illness

“I can understand it with some of those old guys on the ward. They’re nuts.
But you, you’re not exactly the everyday man on the street, but you’re not nuts.”
—One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,
Ken Kesey

Inventing the Crime Of Mental Illness

What happens when something other than crime causes a person to be imprisoned? What if laws and policies are made and broken in such a way that you, personally, suddenly fall into the definition of “criminal,” without having done anything wrong? The history of psychology is intertwined with the struggle against the criminalization of the mentally ill. And modern progress in this area has been slow and rocky.

The science of psychology was born out of the simple knowledge that there are real explanations for mental illness that have nothing to do with balancing of Humors nor demonic possession, and that there were also ways to treat and cope with these illnesses which had nothing to do with bloodletting, trephination, purging, nor the like. Considering the utter darkness of depths from which psychology has risen, a great deal of progress has been made. But it has not been one giant, magical leap into awareness, compassion, and the use of true scientific approach.

The evolution of psychology has been a slow and complicated process. In addition, it has not always been linear—fraught with missteps and setbacks. Although psychologists did finally convince society (on the whole) that individuals with mental illness should be helped, rather than ostracized or punished, and had developed a relativelyimproved idea of what mental illness really meant, psychologists still didn’t quite know what to dowith the mentally ill, nor howto go about the actual helping. As an example, from the establishment of the U.S.’s first hospital exclusively for the mentally ill in 1773 (“Diseases of the Mind,” 2017) it took over 170 years for the U.S. government to step in and realize it needed to regulate these kinds of facilities (despite repeated exposés on the egregious treatment of patients) (National Mental Health Act, 1946).

But, I would like to focus on the modern justice system in the U.S. and its relationship with psychology, without outlining everyantecedent for steps in the timeline. There is one era that seems especially important in forming modern perspectives on the mentally ill and moving away from society’s insistence on lumping them (and those with learning disorders and even physical disorders) in with the criminal. In 1967, the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act (1967) was passed in California as a measure to ensure that those who were involuntarilycommitted to a mental institution actually belonged there. Before this time, it was relatively easy to have a person committed against their will. Between the National Mental Health Act of 1946 and this legislation, the number of patients in psychiatric hospitals topped out in 1955, nearing 600,000 (“Olmstead,” 2009). The 1967 legislation allowed for a 72-hour holding period, during which an individual would be evaluated by trained mental health professionals, before determining if the person should be committed (Lanterman-Petris-Short Act, 1967).

While this seemed a positive step for the rights of the mentally ill, at least one effect was devastating: the year after this legislation was enacted, the number of mentally ill individuals who entered prisons doubled (Abramson, 1972). These individuals were not receiving the help they needed. Instead, they were becoming part of the criminal justice system, the majority of whom having committed no real crime.

Since this time, the United States attempted to neutralize this negative effect, with a few swings in the right direction… and, unfortunately, even more regressions. In 1980, the Mental Health Systems Act was enacted, providing communities with resources to treat those who were mentally ill but were not criminal nor candidates for involuntary committal (Mental Health Systems Act, 1980). However, the next year this was repealed (due to a change in U.S. administrations) and mental health spending was cut by 30% (Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, 1981). Despite the fact that individuals without mental health care flooded into the homeless populations (Lamb, 1984), the federal government further pulled back on their already-limited funding for mental health, saying that this should be more the responsibility of the states. But, after the Great Recession, states were forced to cut billions from their mental health budgets (Glover, Miller, & Sadowski, 2012). In short, those with mental illness were less likely to be unjustly committed to a mental institution, but they were not receiving help either. Instead, they were diverted into homelessness and into prisons.

Social psychology has had an influence on how the U.S. criminal justice system creates interventions to rehabilitate individuals who have committed crimes. It also provides great insight into prevention of criminal activity by studying, understanding, and spreading knowledge about concomitant behaviors, attitudes, and situations which make it more likely for an individual to take part in a crime. But laws and policies that are already in place also add to the overwhelming numbers of people who need the help of mental health professionals, but are denied that help—abandoning them to the criminal justice system where, rather than being helped through their struggles, they are punished for them.

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References

Abramson, M. F. (1972). The Criminalization of Mentally Disordered Behavior. Psychiatric Services, 23(4), 101-105. doi:10.1176/ps.23.4.101

Diseases of the Mind: Highlights of American Psychiatry through 1900 – Early Psychiatric Hospitals and Asylums. (2017, January 18). Retrieved October 12, 2018, from https://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/diseases/early.html

Glover, R. W., Miller, J. E., & Sadowski, S. R. (2012). Proceedings on the State Budget Crisis and the Behavioral Health Treatment Gap: The Impact on Public Substance Abuse and Mental Health Treatment Systems. National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors. Retrieved October 12, 2018, from https://www.nasmhpd.org/sites/default/files/Summary-Congressional Briefing_March 22_Website(2).pdf.

Kesey, K. (1962). One flew over the cuckoo?s nest. New York: New American Library.

Lamb, H. R. (1984). Deinstitutionalization and the Homeless Mentally Ill.Psychiatric Services, 35(9), 899-907. doi:10.1176/ps.35.9.899

Lanterman-Petris-Short Act. (1967). Part of California’s Welfare and Institutions Code (WIC).

Mental Health Systems Act (1980).

National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). (2017, February 17). Retrieved October 12, 2018, from https://www.nih.gov/about-nih/what-we-do/nih-almanac/national-institute-mental-health-nimh

National Mental Health Act (1946)

Olmstead v. L.C.: 10 Years Later. (2009, July 09). Retrieved October 12, 2018, from http://www.gpb.org/georgiagazette/featuredstories/olmstead
chart viewable at http://www.gpb.org/files/pdfs/georgiagazette/state_county.jpg

Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (1981).

1 comment

  1. “However, the next year this was repealed (due to a change in U.S. administrations) and mental health spending was cut by 30% (Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, 1981).”

    It’s very concerning to see programs that relate to mental health being cut, it often seems when it comes to “balancing the budget” most programs that involve funding for public programs that are desperately needed are the ones first to be cut. What is also just as upsetting is the fact that republican politicians often site mental illness as a cause of mass shootings and rather than provide better funding they opt to continue cuts for mental health programs. Individuals in need of mental health programs fall victim to the criminal law system that often leaves them in prison thus growing the number of people who are incarcerated in the United States. We have yet to properly address this issue in America but I argue that it is goes beyond intervention from psychologists to sway the minds of politicians who are for mass incarcerations and for cutting mental health programs. In the past decade or so there have been multiple reports conducted that have shown the undeniable negative effects that it have on our society especially for those individuals that suffer from mental abnormalities.

    Lamb, H. R. (1984). Deinstitutionalization and the Homeless Mentally Ill.Psychiatric Services, 35(9), 899-907. doi:10.1176/ps.35.9.899

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