In this video, you will learn about the connection between mental health and criminal justice. The media highlights the violent events caused by people who suffer mental illnesses. As a consequence, the viewers of the media perceive it as an exaggerated relationship between mental illness and violence.
Even more than illness and disability, the main focus of the topic is people. Some people can get sick. Some people with mental illnesses become involved with the criminal justice system but not all of them have committed a crime.
As a criminal defense lawyer, people with mental illness require a few principles in life to recover and heal from their illness.
Most importantly, it is significant to not view a mental illness as a taboo and rather treat it with possible solutions such as letting these people participate in the social values of the society. A criminal defense lawyer would agree that according to research, 40 percent of the time, police officers have come in contact with people with mental illness without having a criminal record.
These people believe that they should be contributing to their societies and thus just by letting them do it, can make it a safe space for their existence.
