Today’s criminal justice system is facing issues within its components which include law enforcement, the court system, and corrections. The public media has addressed various issues that affect people who have to face the criminal justice system for their failures in society. Some of the most common issues offenders are experiencing include racism, religious bias, mental health issues, poor services due to overcrowded prisons, and radicalization of inmates. The paper will discuss racism and mental health issues facing inmates as well as people arrested within the criminal justice system. Various scholarly journals and articles will be reviewed to compile an annotated bibliography of various sources discussing the issue
Fraser, A. (2009). Mental health in prisons: A public health agenda. International Journal of Prisoner health, 5(3), 132-140.
The article focuses on how mental illness affects most of the inmates and how they have led to prisons developing health services due to the burden the illness has on the government and the patients. The prison mental health services aim to assist inmates with both acute and severe mental problems as most of them undergo hardship and mental torture when committing crimes and it requires professional assistance to enable them to live normally again. The article is important in the research as it enables one to understand that mental health is a rampant issue within prisons and it is the role of the government to ensure that offenders are rehabilitated before they come out of the prisons for a safer and healthier society.
Rutherford, M. (2009). Women’s health and prisons: It’s time for urgent action A report from the WHO Health in Prisons Project Annual Conference ‘Prisons and Women’s Health’13 November 2008, Kiev, Ukraine. International Journal of Prisoner Health, 5(1), 45-51.
The article focuses on issues revolving around the health of women within prisons such as poor hygiene and health services, and mental health is one of the issues affecting these prisoners. Prisons are lacking good health care such as enabling women with mental health needs to receive help yet they should e places of last resort where inmates should be confident of gaining assistance that will transform their lives after their imprisonment time. The article is important in the research as it enables one to understand that lack of good health care is a double punishment for inmates and women are the most neglected gender in such instances.
Reingle Gonzalez, J. M., & Connell, N. M. (2014). Mental health of prisoners: Identifying barriers to mental health treatment and medication continuity. American journal of public health, 104(12), 2328-2333.
The article focuses on the screening and medication offered to US prisoners through a survey of 185 prisoners, and the study revealed that about 26% of the prisoners had mental health issues and only 18% of them had been treated for the issue. It reveals that many prisoners rarely receive treatment on their mental health issues and it is an issue that needs to be emphasized to enable inmates to be healed. However, the continued increase of prisoners and lack of adequate staff to treat them has made it hard to handle the mental health conditions of some prisoners, and hence the article will be useful in enabling one to understand some of the reasons why mental health services are not satisfactory to the patients.
Wilper, A. P., Woolhandler, S., Boyd, J. W., Lasser, K. E., McCormick, D., Bor, D. H., & Himmelstein, D. U. (2009). The health and health care of US prisoners: results of a nationwide survey. American journal of public health, 99(4), 666-672.
The article analyzes how prevalent chronic illnesses such as mental health are among US inmates from a survey of inmates in correctional facilities in 2002 and 2004. Results of the survey reveal that most inmates lack mental illness treatments once they are arrested, and psychiatric care is worse in jails than in prisons. The article is important in enabling one to understand how neglected inmates in jail are and the importance of making improvements in these facilities to enable correctional healthcare to be a right for every offender regardless of their offenses as it will reduce crime and imprisonment rates in the future.
Gonçalves, L. C., Endrass, J., Rossegger, A., & Dirkzwager, A. J. (2016). A longitudinal study of mental health symptoms in young prisoners: exploring the influence of personal factors and the correctional climate. BMC Psychiatry, 16(1), 91.
The article focuses on the prevalence of mental health issues among young inmates, and it has examined the symptom changes in the mental health of the young prisoners as well as personal factors linked with the mental health perceptions and symptoms in the prisons. The results of the study were that prisoners who had a history of mental illness had increased symptoms while better perceptions of correctional climate were linked with participation in the activities of prisons and the Black race. The article is useful in enabling one to identify the preference for mental illness among young offenders and any actions that have been taken to the prisons to minimize the issue.
Linhorst, D. M., & Dirks-Linhorst, P. A. (2015). Mental health courts: Development, outcomes, and future challenges. The Judges’ Journal, 54(2), 22.
The article focuses on mental health courts that are used in minimizing recidivism through addressing circumstances believed to be linked to criminal offenses. It began in 1997 and had grown to 375 within the United States today. The courts use mental health practitioners to evaluate the patients and accept felony cases, however, lack an effective system to analyze court outcomes and processes. The article is important in assisting one understand how mental health courts can be used to offer justice to offenders who have been arrested unfairly after committing offenses driven by their mental illnesses.
Quigley, B. (2016, Oct). 18 examples of racism in the criminal legal system. The Louisiana Weekly
The article analyzes the different types of racism, the biggest crime in the criminal legal system. There is racism in jails and prisons, juvenile arrests, use of force by police, and during prosecution charges and the African American is the most affected race within the United States followed by Hispanics. The article is important in the research as it highlights the different areas within the criminal legal system that the minority races in the society are likely to encounter racism and ways to identify it before it gets overboard. It is clear that racism is deeply embedded in the criminal system and there are many people suffering as a result.
Salters, G. A. (2013). A Phenomenological Exploration of Black Male Law Enforcement Officers’ Perspectives of Racial Profiling and Their Law Enforcement Career Exploration and Commitment.
The article is an analysis of how racial profiling influenced the decision of black male law enforcement officers to undertake their careers. The participants of the study revealed that people perceived them as oppressed and marginalized individuals and it affected their knowledge of racial profiling as well as how they thought other people viewed them. It is therefore clear that racism affects most Black people and it can affect their choice of career choices hence the article is important in enabling one to understand the intensity of racism within the United States as well as its impact on career choice.
Campion, M. B., & Esmail, A. M. (2016). Understanding Motivational Career Choices Of African American Criminal Justice Students. Race, Gender & Class, 23(3/4), 129.
The article seeks to analyze why African Americans focus on choosing careers linked to the criminal justice system despite the rejection the race faces in society through a study of African American college students. The results reveal that some of them have lived with racism, or seen unfair trials on minority races which drives them to pursue a career that will enable them to support people facing similar issues in society have fair justice. The article is therefore important in enabling one to understand that most people, especially the black and Hispanics, make efforts to study and have skills to fight for the rights of their people hence revealing that most people need justice and lack reliable people to support them whenever they need help.
Prieto, G. (2015). “Traitors” to race, “traitors” to the nation: Latina/o immigration enforcement agents, identification, and the racial state. Latino Studies, 13(4), 501-522.
The article focuses on Latina immigration enforcement agents who are more than half of the US border patrol agents and how they use racism to allow some of the immigrants into the US. Most of the workers are US-born Latina, and they go against the laws of the United States to bring in new people to the place instead of working only to allow legalized people to pass through the borders hence being traitors to the nation as a whole. The article is important as it enables one to understand that racism is still a common issue within most developed nations and it may take time before it ends.
Hurst, T. E. (2015). Internalized Racism And Commercial Sexual Exploitation Of Children (CSEC). Race, Gender & Class, 22(1/2), 90.
The article focuses on how racism is being exploited to sexually exploit young people or children based on their color through risk factors such as socioeconomic status and age. Racism has been identified as a potential risk factor to sexual exploitation within the society, and African-Americans are at a higher risk as they are perceived as disadvantaged than the White hence making the Black girls vulnerable to discrimination and assault due to their color. The article is important as it sheds light on the risk the minority races undergo especially the young people who may be unable to fight for their rights.
References
Campion, M. B., & Esmail, A. M. (2016). Understanding Motivational Career Choices Of African American Criminal Justice Students. Race, Gender & Class, 23(3/4), 129.
Fraser, A. (2009). Mental health in prisons: A public health agenda. International Journal of Prisoner health, 5(3), 132-140.
Gonçalves, L. C., Endrass, J., Rossegger, A., & Dirkzwager, A. J. (2016). A longitudinal study of mental health symptoms in young prisoners: exploring the influence of personal factors and the correctional climate. BMC Psychiatry, 16(1), 91.
Hurst, T. E. (2015). Internalized Racism And Commercial Sexual Exploitation Of Children (CSEC). Race, Gender & Class, 22(1/2), 90.
Linhorst, D. M., & Dirks-Linhorst, P. A. (2015). Mental health courts: Development, outcomes, and future challenges. The Judges’ Journal, 54(2), 22.
Prieto, G. (2015). “Traitors” to race,“traitors” to nation: Latina/o immigration enforcement agents, identification and the racial state. Latino Studies, 13(4), 501-522.
Quigley, B. (2016, Oct). 18 examples of racism in the criminal legal system. The Louisiana Weekly
Reingle Gonzalez, J. M., & Connell, N. M. (2014). Mental health of prisoners: Identifying barriers to mental health treatment and medication continuity. American journal of public health, 104(12), 2328-2333.
Rutherford, M. (2009). Women’s health and prisons: It’s time for urgent action A report from the WHO Health in Prisons Project Annual Conference ‘Prisons and Women’s Health’13 November 2008, Kiev, Ukraine. International Journal of Prisoner health, 5(1), 45-51.
Salters, G. A. (2013). A Phenomenological Exploration of Black Male Law Enforcement Officers’ Perspectives of Racial Profiling and Their Law Enforcement Career Exploration and Commitment.
Wilper, A. P., Woolhandler, S., Boyd, J. W., Lasser, K. E., McCormick, D., Bor, D. H., & Himmelstein, D. U. (2009). The health and health care of US prisoners: results of a nationwide survey. American journal of public health, 99(4), 666-672.
