Mad or Bad? by Sigrid Macdonald

According to PBS Frontline, there are over one million mentally ill inmates who will be released from prison in the United States within the next 18 months; the majority of these will not be able to function outside of a supervised environment, and will therefore be rearrested, after either causing havoc or harm to themselves or others.

We have similar problems; Corrections Canada cites research from 2004 that suggests "about 11 per cent of newly arriving prisoners had a mental disorder in 2004, compared with about seven per cent in 1997." And Capital News Online claims that "in 2007, 2,219 male inmates and 133 female inmates were identified at admission to federal institutions across Canada as having mental health problems, which marks an increase of 71 per cent and 61 per cent respectively since 1997."

Why do so many offenders have mental health problems? Well, to begin with, there was a strong civil rights movement on behalf of psychiatric patients back in the 1970s. In a well-intentioned attempt to better serve these people in the community, rather than to warehouse them, perhaps for a lifetime, the patients were deinstitutionalized. Theoretically, this could have been a good thing if the appropriate community supports had been in place, but they weren't.

As a result, many people with mental health issues, particularly those with psychotic features such as paranoid schizophrenics and those with bipolar illness, often stopped taking their medication when they weren't in the hospital. This is easy to understand because sometimes meds need to be administered three times a day. That's hard enough for a high functioning person to manage and extremely difficult, if not impossible, for someone who doesn't have the skills to carry around a daily planner, a pillbox, or to make appointments in advance with the doctor and the pharmacy to refill prescriptions.

Often the mentally ill are arrested for small infractions initially, Frontline states in two fascinating documentaries on the plight of the mentally ill in prison: "The New Asylums" (2004) and "The Released" (2009), both of which are available to watch in their entirety online: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/released/view/. They may steal something at the 7-11 or commit a robbery or break into a house because they're convinced that bin Laden is there or someone is trying to kill them. Since long-term psychiatric care and rehabilitation are a thing of the past, these people are frequently jailed and then put into minimum security. They don't often do well there, having difficulty following orders or simply feeling too agitated and restless to comply with a strict regimen, and may increase their aggressiveness or violence, forcing the system to put them in maximum security. And, of course, the penitentiary is not equipped to deal with anyone who is suicidal, self mutilating or hallucinating.

Sadly, one of the best ways for someone with psychotic episodes who is breaking the law to get help is within the institution rather than the community. This has to change. Otherwise, there will be a continual revolving door of the mentally ill, who clearly do not belong in prison, going back and forth. Frontline interviewed several of these people, notably black men, who did very well inside the penitentiary but instantly decompensated when they were released because they stopped taking their meds, lost them or ran out, and ended up being homeless. When someone is homeless, they can't receive Social Security benefits (or welfare and disability in Canada), and things predictably go from bad to worse.

What's the solution? "We need to have something that starts from the intake, the assessment, even to the community release," said Dr. Francoise Bouchard, Director General of Health Services for the Correctional Services of Canada.

True enough. But we also need adequate community resources and psychiatric care, diagnosis and treatment to help those with mental challenges, and prevent them from entering the penal system in the first place.

Sigrid Macdonald

Ottawa, Ontario

Join us in Winnipeg on May 28th!

Panel Discussion on Criminal Justice Issues

Are you interested in justice, injustice, and crime? What role should the community play in restoration and healing? Get involved!

WHEN –7 p.m. on Thursday, May 28th, 2009
WHERE – Portage Avenue Church, 1420 Portage Ave, Winnipeg, Manitoba

WHY-- The Manitoba Interfaith Council will host a public panel to discuss issues related to our criminal justice system. The council is hoping to create dialogue, raise awareness, and encourage members of the community to become involved in organizations that help prisoners while they’re incarcerated and when they’re released.

WHO -- Panel members include David Asper, Joyce Milgaard, and Dr. Stanley Yaren. Local CBC radio personality Terry Macleod, host of Radio One 990's morning show, will moderate the event.

David Asper is Executive Vice President of Canwest Global Communications and Chairman of the National Post. He is also a criminal lawyer, well renowned for his activism on behalf of the wrongly convicted, and a member of the bar in Manitoba and Ontario.

Joyce Milgaard rose to national prominence as the indefatigable mom in her 23-year battle, which she took right up to the Supreme Court of Canada, to free and exonerate her wrongly-convicted son David. She has an honourary law degree from the University of Manitoba, is on the board of directors of The Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted (AIDWYC), and is a Christian Science practitioner.

Dr. Stanley Yaren, MD, FRCPC is a Forensic Psychiatrist and head of the Adult Forensic Psychiatry Program for the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority. Dr. Yaren is a psychiatric consultant to The Correctional Services of Canada. He is also President Elect of the Canadian Psychiatric Association and an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Manitoba.

Rev. Hank Dixon has been the Protestant Chaplain at Stony Mountain Institution for the last 6 years. He has a B.A. from Mount St. Vincent University in Halifax, an M. Div. from Providence Theological Seminary and is presently working on a D. Min. degree from Providence. Hank brings a somewhat unique perspective to the area of corrections having spent 9 years in prison for murder from 1976 to 1985. He was ordained in 1995 and is credentialed with the Canadian Baptists of Western Canada.

The Manitoba Interfaith Council represents the interests of the faith community to the Government of Manitoba on issues related to health care and corrections. The council is an advocate for restorative justice.

Everyone is welcome to attend and admission is free. The focus of the event will be to encourage community participation, build allies, and foster greater understanding of the penal system. It will also suggest different ways of looking at crime: instead of asking, “What crime was committed and how can that person be punished?”, the panel will take a more humane approach by asking, “What happened, who was harmed, and how can we help?”

Various social agencies and organizations such as Elizabeth Fry, the John Howard Society, and the Salvation Army will have displays at the church. Attendees can talk to these groups and perhaps volunteer some of their free time to work with them.

For further information, please click on the CONTACT ME button to the right. Or write directly to Don Collins, Open Circle Prison Visitation Coordinator, Mennonite Central Committee Manitoba, doncollins@mennonitecc.ca (cell phone: (204) 294-9599).

Backgrounder on Restorative Justice by Bernie Mullins

Restorative Justice is an emerging approach that emphasizes the need for healing in the wake of pain created by criminal behaviour.

Sometimes called transformative justice, restorative justice is an attempt to understand the needs of everyone who has been hurt. This includes the victim, the offender, their families and the community.

Restorative justice rejects the “us versus them” mentality that often characterizes much of the public debate over crime. The media has often focused on a message that calls for harshness by emphasizing punishment, incarceration, and retribution.

Restorative justice calls for accountability on the part of the offender, encourages forgiveness, and builds a foundation where justice satisfies the brokenness of the human spirit.

Crime is often a symptom of much deeper social ills such as poverty, mental illness, and social alienation. The principals of restoration are based on the full Biblical meaning of justice, which challenges the whole community to move toward a more hopeful vision of our society.

Restorative justice is a very practical approach that has resulted in initiatives on the part of faith communities, organizations, and some public programs. Some examples of these include:

1. Victim Offender Mediation: Provides a safe and appropriate venue for the offender to express genuine remorse and take full accountability for the harm created by his behaviour. Victims who are able to forgive report feelings of freedom not previously experienced.

2. Circles of Support and Accountability: Circles of Support and Accountability help offenders convicted of sexual offences to safely return to the community by connecting with a supportive group that also exercises accountability.

By Bernie Mullins, Coordinator of Chaplaincy, Manitoba Corrections

Meet the Panel

PURPOSE OF THE EVENT -- To attract and challenge a sizeable audience concerning issues of justice, injustice and crime; to address the role of the community in bringing restoration and healing; and to provide opportunities to become personally involved. It is our hope that the panel will captivate the group and encourage them to grapple personally with issues of crime and safety in the community — what would a better response be, etc.? — and then to encourage them to become personally involved — to have an impact — by volunteering with one of the agencies that will be represented at the event.