Forensic Mental Health, the Law & Practical Application
When it comes to mental illness, there are many different aspects related to their effects on society. One area of study centres around forensic mental health, which arises when someone with a mental illness is caught up in the law. The forensic mental health system is important for a variety of reasons, and significant in helping determine proper outcome of criminal cases involving those who suffer from mental illness. In some cases, people who have committed a crime may not, because of their mental state, be aware of or understand what they have done, or they may be unable to understand what the outcome of their actions will be.
There are many myths about mental health, including that people who suffer from mental illnesses use their troubles as an excuse for behaviour. However, these myths need to be dispelled and mental health problems taken seriously. Forensic mental health is used to look beyond public perception and dive into the scientific evidence behind someone’s actions. It looks at the contributing factors that influenced someone’s decisions, most often in the case of someone breaking the law or acting in a disorderly way. Falsehoods about mental health are quite counterintuitive and very damaging toward not only the individual who may have committed a crime because of their mental illness, but to society as a whole because of its lack of a basis in truth. This leads to further trauma in their lives and influences their future decision making.
Forensic mental health is necessary in order to make sure that cases are dealt with in an appropriate manner. If someone is suffering from a mental health issue, such as schizophrenia or paranoia, incarceration is likely not going to benefit anyone involved. They may end up repeating their offence after being released because the underlying problem that caused them to take an action in the first place was not addressed. To this point, forensic mental health can lead to more positive outcomes in the judicial system, such as ordering an offender to receive treatment and or serve a sentence in a facility that is equipped to offer proper rehabilitation and help for an individual. Forensic mental health is not only beneficial to society at large by offering the offender adequate and appropriate help, it can help decrease the likelihood of those offences occurring repeatedly through treatment instead of purely punishing the individual.
When someone who is suffering from a mental illness is convicted of a crime and sentenced solely to jail time, it only fuels the confusion, frustration, and lack of compassion that plagues the world of mental health. There are more progressive, helpful, and appropriate ways to deal with a situation. While serious crimes to require severe punishment in some cases, forensic mental health aims to tackle the underlying disorders or diseases which influence poor decision making.
Through counselling, medication, and rehabilitation, people suffering from mental health problems can see a positive impact and become contributing members of society. Sometimes traditional methods of punishment are in no way effective, which wastes time, money, and leads to repeated behaviour. It can also lead to more intense suffering for the person who has the mental illness, fueling the fire so to speak.
There are many different players in forensic mental health. From judges to lawyers to the police, many different authorities need to understand its effectiveness as a rehabilitation tool. Awareness and understanding of mental health illnesses and how they can affect and influence an individual’s actions is important.
It is our aim at our March Mental Health Seminar to raise more questions surrounding this topic and discuss how to be most effective in implementing quality forensic mental health practices. We urge anyone who is interested in this area to attend in order to learn more and help end the shame, falsehoods, and inadequate rehabilitation that is prevalent in society.