OPPapers.com Essay Index >> English >> Criminalization Of The Mentally Ill
We have many free term papers and essays on Criminalization Of The Mentally Ill. We also have a wide variety of research papers and book reports available to you for free. You can browse our collection of term papers or use our search engine.
Criminalization of the Mentally Ill. Criminalization of the Mentally Ill Have
you ever been dealt a dilemma were you knew that someone ...
... Crime Times, Internet: (http://www.crime~times.org/97d/w97dp6.htm) (p.1) National
Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) (1999) The Criminalization of People ...
... in the form of scapegoats like witches and the mentally ill, or to ... Sometimes these
are called criminalization theories (Clayton Hartjen 1974), and they have ...
... The Sonoma County Alliance for the Mentally Ill advises that police officers in ... This
rise in police brutality may come from a quick criminalization of people ...
... The Sonoma County Alliance for the Mentally Ill advises that police officers in ... This
rise in police brutality may come from a quick criminalization of people ...
Submitted by jsm00th on September 24, 2005
Category: English
Words: 1342 | Pages: 6
Views: 191
Popularity Rank: 62,175
Average Member Grade: N/A (Add a Comment / Grade this Paper)
Criminalization of the Mentally Ill
Have you ever been dealt a dilemma were you knew that someone needed your help but you were also aware that you where not the individual with the capability of helping. This was the situation with my friend Dan; he and I went to high school together and were good friends. After graduation Dan went on to obtain a dual degree in mathematics and physics from Cal Berkeley, and was on the first U.S. table tennis team to go to china in the early 1970's. I remember being so proud of him, and knew without any doubt that he would live a very successful life. However Dan began to hear voices, gradually deteriorated, and ended up living in his parent's garage. Here are two people in their 80's trying to live a life that always included the uncertainty of not knowing if their son was going to burn down their house. He terrorized them, he terrorized the people of his neighborhood, and he scared the heck out of the cops, including myself, who responded to the one, two, three calls a month that came from Dan's house. Sometimes he had a gun; sometimes he had gasoline and road flares. Always he was irrational. In the beginning, he would recognize me and I could talk him out of whatever he was set on doing. In the end I was just another blue uniform. Often Dan didn't meet the criteria for a 72-hour hold for evaluation. There were often no options other than arrest and jail, which is where Dan stayed until he calmed down and could be released to his parents. Tragically Dan died alone from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, and no one, certainly not me and certainty not the system, had adequate resources to help him.
( )
This is a true story from Bernard Melekain, Chief of Police for the city of Pasadena California. Stories like Dan's are not uncommon in the justice system, which has become by default the primary caregiver of the mentally ill. Primary care giver maybe; But lacking in sufficient...
You must Login to view the entire paper.
If you are not a member yet, Sign Up for free!