Mental institutions in the United States were founded for a very important reason; to keep the mentally ill people of America off the streets, and into a place that will provide them with the necessary treatment. Prisons and jails on the other hand, were not designed for that reason. Although many of the mentally ill may commit a crime of some sort, I feel they should be set aside from society, but a prison is not necessarily the right place for them to be sent to. The workers in prisons have been through training to deal with inmates, but they don't have the education or the correct facilities to properly care for the mentally ill. Keeping the mentally ill off the streets is a concern of many Americans, and throwing them in prisons or jail is not a reliable solution; this problem needs to be addressed.

It is understandable that there is a need to help people with brain disorders get off the streets, but incarcerating them isn't the right way to do that. They aren't being properly cared for in those facilities (Torrey 1). The need and want of getting the mentally ill off the streets has become so bad they are throwing them into jails and keeping them there without a good reasoning

The treatment provided for the mentally ill varies from one institution to another, they all have they own different ideas. It has been researched and proven that only 41% of inmates with mental illnesses receive any type of treatment while they are being detained there (Bazelon 2). Another horrible issue that the mentally ill have to face is that the mental health treatment is unevenly distributed throughout the inmates; it is sometimes available based on the prisoner's race or sex (Bazelon 2). Ten more percent of female inmates than male inmates receive some sort of treatment. According to Bazelon "about 64% of white inmates with mental illnesses in state prisons received mental health treatment and about 56% of black inmates were treated (Bazelon 1)." This just proves how unfairly the mentally ill are being treated while they are incarcerated. Not only should they not be treated in that manner, but they also should even be incarcerated. The mentally ill should be in a mental home were they belong (Shopinsky 2). Not only do inmates in jail not receive enough treatment if any at all; due to the stress they suffer their condition often worsens (Bazelon1). During a mentally ill persons stay in jail they may suffer from many different problems (Torrey 2). Since it is harder for them to stick up for themselves it is not uncommon for the mentally ill to end up being raped (Torrey 2). It is obvious that they are not being protected in a cell when incidents like that can occur. It seems like they are being put in a place where the odds are higher that they would leave in a worse state of mind, than they entered in. It is hard for the mental people to let the guards know what is happening to them, because it is hard for them to show emotions, which makes it hard for the officers to solve the problems (Torrey 3). Ther

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Approximate Word count = 1229
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)