Post by ck4829 on Feb 24, 2022 13:41:22 GMT
The criminal justice system is looking at mental health again - will it use the right lens?
Shortly after becoming Prime Minister, Theresa May vowed to tackle “the burning injustice of mental illness”.
“There is no escaping the fact,” she said “that people with mental health problems are still not treated the same as if they have a physical ailment, or the fact that all of us – government, employers, schools, charities – need to do more to support all of our mental wellbeing.”
It is difficult to argue that mental health is not now receiving the attention it deserves, but does it necessarily follow that the way in which we think and talk about our experiences of it is a helpful one?
...
Acknowledging that many will disagree with him, Professor Kinderman believes that he isn’t being ‘soft’ and excusing people’s crimes. In his view, it is a “humane and pragmatic” approach requiring people to take more responsibility, not less, and could result in real progress on an individual and societal level as we begin to confront the underlying causes of our unhappiness.
“I’m suggesting that we understand the issue of personal responsibility both in mental health and the criminal justice system, rather than run away from it”, he said.
“We all process information about the world, we make choices, we weigh up the pros and cons or we don’t, we think about the consequences of our actions or we don’t.
“It’s not necessarily a kindly, do-gooderish approach. It’s saying don’t put people into boxes and don’t assume that the normal psychological rules that apply to everyday behaviour stop applying when someone has this socially constructed label of mental illness applied to them.”
He does not believe that the label of “disorder” helps people examine the root causes of their problems.
www.mentalhealthtoday.co.uk/blog/government-policy/the-criminal-justice-system-needs-to-look-at-mental-health-will-it-use-the-right-lens
Shortly after becoming Prime Minister, Theresa May vowed to tackle “the burning injustice of mental illness”.
“There is no escaping the fact,” she said “that people with mental health problems are still not treated the same as if they have a physical ailment, or the fact that all of us – government, employers, schools, charities – need to do more to support all of our mental wellbeing.”
It is difficult to argue that mental health is not now receiving the attention it deserves, but does it necessarily follow that the way in which we think and talk about our experiences of it is a helpful one?
...
Acknowledging that many will disagree with him, Professor Kinderman believes that he isn’t being ‘soft’ and excusing people’s crimes. In his view, it is a “humane and pragmatic” approach requiring people to take more responsibility, not less, and could result in real progress on an individual and societal level as we begin to confront the underlying causes of our unhappiness.
“I’m suggesting that we understand the issue of personal responsibility both in mental health and the criminal justice system, rather than run away from it”, he said.
“We all process information about the world, we make choices, we weigh up the pros and cons or we don’t, we think about the consequences of our actions or we don’t.
“It’s not necessarily a kindly, do-gooderish approach. It’s saying don’t put people into boxes and don’t assume that the normal psychological rules that apply to everyday behaviour stop applying when someone has this socially constructed label of mental illness applied to them.”
He does not believe that the label of “disorder” helps people examine the root causes of their problems.
www.mentalhealthtoday.co.uk/blog/government-policy/the-criminal-justice-system-needs-to-look-at-mental-health-will-it-use-the-right-lens