Offenders' treatment design

Offenders' treatment design

Word count: 2200 (Introduction: 536, discussion: 1448, conclusion: 272)

Offenders' treatment design

Introduction

Mental disorders are disorders pertaining to mental illness or mental disorders. An individual is said to be mentally ill if he or she suffers with a mental dysfunction. Mental illness and crime go hand in hand; a mentally unfit person would be more motivated to violate a law, than the one who is not. The term mental illness is defined as “any disease of the mind characterized by serious emotional or behavioural problems”. These emotional or behavioural problems are characterized as mental disorders. The term personality disorder is defined as “a class or subset of mental disorders that pertain to certain maladaptive behaviours resulting from behavioural or experimental consequences”. Personality disorders are also classified mental disorders (Wettstein, 2000, pp. 35-104).

Mental disorders are very commonly found in criminal offenders. Studies consistently conclude that mental disorders are far more prevalent and common in criminals than ordinary individuals; rather, it is a well known fact that mental illness and prevalent disorders in mind and personality tend to act as a trigger towards offensive behaviours and law violation. The researches in criminology department pertain to the fact that imprisoned people all across the globe are often suffering from mental disorder. Mental diseases lead to abnormal psychological diseases that result in a massive host of behaviours and emotions creating disruption in the normal flow of life around the mentally ill individuals. For years, a consistent increase has been reported in offenders with mental disorders in the data of criminal justice. There are separate laws for criminals suffering from unfit mental conditions, since they do not deserve a punishment equivalent to those of normal people (Berman, 2009, 141-213).

As a result, there are particular treatments designed for mental disorders that are prevalent in offenders. Criminal justice domain mainly deals with the just treatment of ordinary individuals belonging to different age groups; however, the mental health law is not becoming more crucial for the nations nowadays. It is reported that more than two-thirds of offenders are victimized by serious mental disorders and personality distortions due to one reason or another.

Offenders with mental illness, require a proper treatment to correct their behaviours and rectify their mental disorders. In the developed world, the more important concern pertains to implement treatment programs for such individuals as a crime prevention strategy, as well as, to reduce the probability of crime commitment (Berman, 2009, 141-213).

The paper discussed the concept of mental illness pertaining to mental disorders, as well as, the link between mental disorders and offensive behaviours. It develops an insight into the causation of criminal offense and the resulting criminal and offensive outcomes of the victimized individuals towards self and the society. The paper specifies different types and modes of offensive behaviours, as well as, different approaches for the proper responsive to behaviour. The paper finally looks into the usefulness of the programs designed for the treatment of such individuals, as well as, the ...