Christian Thomas Kelly

UWRT 1103
Mrs. Thomas
Who cares? People with Mental Illness Overwhelm US Justice System
Grohol, John M. "Who Cares? People with Mental Illness Overwhelm US Justice System."
PsychCentral, 22 July 2014. Web. 27 Mar. 2015.
John Grohol, founder of PsychCentral, alludes to how America is taking the wrong approach in
dealing with individuals with mental illnesses. In his article, Who cares, he takes the approach
that the transfer of patients with mental illnesses from inpatient hospitals to jails has not only
cost more money, but exacerbated their symptoms. With no money to fund the treatment of
individuals who possess mental illnesses, the price to pay has come in an overworking of law
enforcement, both in police departments and prisons. Law enforcement does not have the
expertise to handle such individuals, thus, without any regular treatment; the prisoners are not
only in the wrong location but taking up a massive amount of space. Grohol pinpoints the cause
of such a crisis as too few psychiatric beds. He supports this point with background evidence
of how America attempted to close all psychiatric wards in the 1980s. Overall, attempting to
close the wards constituted too many individuals in prison, who need to be in a more humane,
least-restraining environment, and a substantial rise in costs, not only from housing the
prisoners, but also, from the cost it takes to transport the prisoners (Grohol, John M).
John Grohol, a writer about online behavior, mental health and psychology issues, and the
intersection of technology and human behavior since 1992 has an extensive background,

reinforcing his credibility. As a credible source, Grohol sets forth a well-founded thesis, Instead
of getting people with serious mental illness into treatment, were perfectly content as a society
to spend more imprisoning them, and restricting their access to needed treatment. He supports
his thesis with an opinionated piece towards the end, using diction such as, healthcare system,
where they belong, and least-restraining environment. He concludes with a statement
intended to affect ones emotions, stating, Today, America is sadly failing its citizens in
providing the minimum standard of care all of its citizens deserve (Grohol, John M).
Other quotes:
Not only do they belong there, they would receive treatment and care at a fraction of the cost
of what it costs to incarcerate someone.
Its no wonder that if youre crazy in America, youre more likely to be shot or taken into
police custody than in any other place in the world.
Perhaps because its a state issue, people dont realize this change has happened slowly but
systematically over the past two decades.
Analysis: This article was by far one of the best I have read thus far. This is due partially to the
fact that I advocated many of his points. This article was short, very useful, and easy to read. I
would recommend this article to anyone working on an assignment on mental illnesses because it
offers a new, recent, and updated perspective in which I have not seen in any other article.