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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
This 11 page paper considers how in contemporary society we see to emerging trends affecting people with mental illness. The first trend is using the criminal justice system to give the community greater protection 'dangerous' mentally ill offenders. The second trend is towards making legal processes more therapeutic. The paper discusses whether or not these trends are in complete conflict and cannot co-exist. The bibliography cites 10 sources.
Page Count:
11 pages (~225 words per page)
File: TS14_TEmentalaus.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
the elderly the young, the disabled and those who are mentally ill. It is this latter category of individuals that are often forgotten and cause the greatest level of controversy,
especially in the criminal justice system in Australia. The suffering of those with mental illness is undisputed, it is the way that the law should approach them in order to
meet the needs of the individual and the needs of the community. If we use the definition of mental illness as used by Australian Bureau of Statistics this states that
it is "The existence of a clinically recognisable set of symptoms or behaviour associated in most cases with distress and with interference with personal functions" (quoted Karras, 2004), then we
can start to appreciate the wide verity of people that this may include and the importance of treatment in any case of a mentally ill offender.
There have been a few well publicised cases where crimes have been committed by those suffering mental illness. The lack of control over these events creates
fear, which has subsequently been reflected in the legislation that has sought to provide a higher level of community protection. This is evidence in a large amount of literature that
there is a link between mental illness and crimes (Drake and Pathe, 2004). The studies which show this link are wide ranging,
but also compelling. One study is a comparative study that compared schizophrenic and non schizophrenic population to assess the incidence level of crime. The study that looked at Australian patients
who were admitted for schizophrenia at five years intervals between the years of 1975 - 1995 and compared this to a sample population of the general population (Wallace et al,
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