Context and background of the video
The video represents a story of the two men, a 23-year-old Kerry Mandaway Doolan holding in jail during the last 4 years and a 31-year-old Christopher Leo being imprisoned for the last 5 years. Both of them are declared as mentally impaired with complex needs prisoners without conviction. As they are considered as “unfit to plead” people, who can do harm to themselves or to the others, their imprisonment at the Alice Springs Jail does not have a release date. People like the lawyer, Mr. O’Reilly, Dr. Larry Cashion, and the police officer Ian McKinlay admit that this practice looks like tantamount to torture. It is stated that the Australian Criminal Justice System cannot treat Mr. Doolan and Mr. Leo this way. Even if appropriate conditions for mentally impaired people are created, people stay in jails and cannot get a chance to be treated properly and understand what it is to live a normal life.
Lack of support and services for complex needs people provided by the Australian Criminal Justice System
People with complex needs require support and special social care approaches. It is necessary to find enough time, think about the services appropriate for each individual, and offer help that can address personal, social, and emotional needs at the same time. The video shows that the Australian Criminal Justice System does not want to focus a lot on the problems of people with complex needs. The system does pay attention to the conditions under which people are imprisoned, still, the system does not want to understand the reasons of people’s imprisonment and think about possible supportive methods. There are only several people, who are aware of the situation that happens at the Alice Springs Jail and not understood or accepted by the government when they ask for meetings and discussions.
Literature review and critique of the issue concerning mentally impaired people holding in jails without conviction
Mentally ill people have more chances to be imprisoned indefinitely than to be treated properly because of the lack of the good appropriate services (Hamilton 2010). The criminalisation of mental illness was offered, and advocates evaluated treating conditions, introduced new interventions, and proved that such services could control the behaviour of mentally ill prisoners (Draine, Salzer, Culhane, & Hadley 2002). The gap between what is written and researched in the video is the way of how the interventions are implemented. The topic is identified, the needs are mentioned, but the actions prove that emotional, social, personal, or financial support is not provided as it was implied. The system does not want to spend much time on treating people with complex needs and give them a chance to be changed.
Strength and weaknesses of people’s awareness about the issue of holding mentally impaired people in jails without conviction
People have to know more about the conditions under which mentally ill people are held in jails because their understanding of the matter and participation in discussions may help people, who are need support the most, start living a normal life. The main strength of people’s awareness is the possibility to contribute living conditions of people with mental problems – people should never neglect their chances to help the others. The weakness of the situation is that not all people are properly prepared for the conditions under which mentally ill people have to live. They are shocked and cannot think about the most appropriate helpful means. This is why it is necessary for the Australian Criminal Justice System to be more attentive to the prisoners with complex needs and the conditions under which the most vulnerable people are incarcerated and to remind their impact and role in society.
Reference List
Draine, J, Salzer, MS, Culhane, DP, & Hadley, TR 2002, ‘Role of social disadvantage in crime, joblessness, and homelessness among persons with serious mental illness’, Psychiatric Services, vol.53, no. 5, pp.565-573.
Hamilton, M 2010, ‘People with complex needs and the criminal justice system’, Current Issues in Criminal Justice, vol. 22, no. 2, pp.307-324.