Assignment: Capstone Project Part III: Strategic Issues

Rickwood explores the representation of the mentally ill in the criminal justice system. According to Rickwood, the mentally ill are over three times more represented in the criminal justice compared to the ordinary community and this is something of concern. In certain cultures, more persons who have a mental illness live in correction facilities compared to others. However, incarceration is seen to be a major cause of mental health problems due to some of the corrective measures that are employed. Depression among Hispanics is noted to be highest at slightly over 10%, followed by African Americans than Whites (Corin, 2017) Depression cuts across all age groups and genders in the recent past. According to Rickwood there is need to ensure that specialized and professional mental health services are provided in correctional facilities to ensure that the correction process does not negatively impact the victims. pre-release preparation and post-release follow-up are key areas that need a proper overhaul to ensure that the number of cases of relapse is reduced accordingly. Proper understanding of the cultural background of a patient is a major consideration in choosing treatment procedures and it ensures that the health service provider is cult rally aware of the implications of certain choices on certain groups of people. Cultural considerations affect beliefs about sickness, pain and where people seek medical help.

Challenges Human Service Professional face involving Mental Illness

Working with people who have mental illness presents serious challenges that need to be addressed depending on the situation at hand. The cultural beliefs of the patient form a key consideration in the treatment process (Corin, 2017). Some patients are violent and this presents a key challenge in treatment. To address this the human service provider must be keen to have a good plan, speak firmly and avoid confrontation with the patient. It is also important to ensure that the patient does not harm himself or harm others. Making sure that if family members of the patient are present fully understand what will happen throughout the treatment process is one way of ensuring that they are able to offer support. For homeless patients or those who are fully dependent on support services, it is important to contact the social worker in charge to ensure that their recovery process is supported.

References

Corin, E. (2017). The social and cultural matrix of health and disease. In Why are some people healthy and others not? (pp. 93-132). Routledge.

Naylor, C., Das, P., Ross, S., Honeyman, M., Thompson, J., & Gilburt, H. (2016).

Bringing together physical and mental health. King's Fund.

Rickwood, D. (2006). Pathways of recovery. Preventing further episodes of mental illness (Monograph). Commonwealth of Australia.