Mental Health Issues Are Treated Fairly By The Criminal...

This assignment will examine if individuals with mental health issues are treated fairly by the Criminal Justice System, taking into account the provisions of the Mental Health Act, the roles of professionals within it and the development of how people with mental health disorders are, and have historically been, viewed in society. Individuals with mental illnesses were initially segregated or incarcerated. The West has seen mental health views change as society has developed and medicine advanced. The first asylum dates back to the Bethlam Hospital, in 1247. Early views of society linked mental health (conditions such as epilepsy) to evil forces or witchcraft. It could be argued this was early evidence of labelling and stigma. Society†¦show more content†¦In contrast, the nature vs nature debate heavily influences this subject. Are people born with mental illness or is it developed or is there an overlap between the two? Hans Eysenck argued that there were similarities between how a mental illness is acquired and the development of criminality; schizophrenia is often hereditary, however not all siblings will inherit it and it can be acquired without any hereditary element. Both genetic and social factors, such as drug or alcohol abuse can lead to mental illnesses and as society has developed, the latt er is now much more prevalent. Systematic care was not seen until 19th Century, moving away from institutions to a system that was more segregative, centralised and managed (Rogers, A. Pilgrim, D. 2001). The Victorian era saw scientific theory replacing religious belief around mental illness and psychiatry emerged as a new discipline. The first link between mental and physical illness followed the 1926 Royal Commission on Lunacy and Mental Disorder which stated that Mental and physical illness should now be seen as overlapping and not as distinct . The 1959 Mental Health Act was the first evidence of community care and in the 1960s, following advances in medicine and drug treatment, more focus on rights of individuals, and advances in social science and philosophy combined to start deinstitutionalisation. Treatment for people with mental illness has developed from incarceration in