Final Paper Brilliant answer

Running head: INMATES RIGHTS IN PSYCHIATRIC TREATMENT 6

An inmate’s right to refuse psychiatric treatment

March 31, 2017

Abstract

Involuntary treatment occurs when patients are medicated, or placed in a treatment facility without their consent. There has been an increase of cases of people being subjected to different forms of treatment procedures without their knowledge, a typical situation for inmates. The courts have stated emphatically and unequivocally that committed individuals have a constitutional right to refuse antipsychotic medications. However, the courts have never been on the side of the prisoners. Prisoners have enjoyed a rather fragile, indirect right to resist mental health treatment, which is often administered under the pretext of aversive treatment of which is unwarranted. The U.S. Supreme Court had the chance in Washington v. Harper to give inmates the same rights other hospitalized persons have to refuse psychotropic medications. In its place, the Court decided to support the involuntary treatment towards mentally ill patients. This essay analyses this decision and its implications for the criminal justice system and the rights of detainees in refusing psychiatric treatment.

Introduction

In the early 20th century in the United States, forced sexual sterilization was performed on those deemed to be unsuitable for procreating. Carrie Buck was a patient who has epilepsy and feeble minds in Virginia. Based on the state law that was passed in 1924 Buck was deemed feeble minded by heredity and was ordered to undergo sterilization. Despite the pronouncements on the fourteenth and fifteenth amendment on the human rights to consent in receiving medical care, the court ruled that it was just and fair that she was sterilized. "Three generations of imbecilic are enough” (Cohen, A. 2016)

Historical overview of mental health and involuntary treatment of psychiatric patients

For much of history, the psychiatric treatments have been coercive and inhumane. For centuries those who were different or socially unacceptable were often accused of being witches or possessed by demons (Palmer, J. W. 2015).  The most innocuous treatment being an exorcism where a pastor drilled a hole into the skull of a patient exposing the brain in the belief that the demons would come out and the patient would heal of different mental illnesses including schizophrenia. When shock was discovered to alleviate symptoms hydrotherapy- submerging patients in ice water was implemented as a treatment. A more advanced technique of electroconvulsive therapy is when large amounts of electrical current have passed through the brain in an attempt to effect structural changes to the brain conducive to curing certain psychological problems (Hudson, D. L. 2007). 

A landmark case dealing with the rights of prisoners was in Washington v. Harper (1990). Harper was serving a sentence in Washington for having been convicted of robbery. He consented to the administration of psychotropic drugs. While not medicated he was violent. In Washington prison, he was diagnosed with a manic-depressive disorder. He was forced to take antipsychotic drugs based on the policy that stated that inmates might be medicated against their will when ordered by a psychiatrist who meets the following criteria: suffering from mental disorder and gravely disabled or poses a likelihood of serious harm to himself and others (Washington, B. T. 2009).

Sources of data

Previous court rulings in the area of psychiatry and forced treatment for inmates who have been forced against their will have set standards in the realm of incarcerated prisoners and how correctional psychologists treat them.

Health records from different health institutions of psychiatry have laid out the groundwork for Psychologists today to focus more on the patient’s willingness to participate in treatment.

Conclusion

The importance of maintaining the health of the inmates cannot be understated. However, there is a dire need to have clear stipulations in the human rights act and the general constitution regarding the right of consent from the inmates before they are subjected to such involuntary types of treatment.

References

Hudson, D. L. (2007) Prisoners' rights New York: Chelsea House.

Palmer, J. W. (2015). Constitutional Rights of Prisoners London: Routledge.

Washington, B. T. (2009). The case of the Negro Boston, MA: Atlantic Monthly Press.

Cohen, A. (2016). Imbeciles: The Supreme Court, American eugenics, and the sterilization of Carrie Buck.