Inmates are likely to suffer permanent harm from isolation

[Dizzy1]

Do any of you fellow form posters even care what mental state we subject prisoners to?

Nope.

[Ka-El]

Coming soon to a community near you (maybe even your own).

Violent, angry, and insane.

[normaM]

I thought the ruling in Ontario was only applying to those deemed mentally ill.
Removing the insane from your sentence Kai El you are left with violent and anger. If they cannot be housed with the others, or are a danger to Guards what you you suggest as an alternative?

Wasn't there a news story awhile ago that some guy in been in SC for years? I remember how sad the story was.

[JayByrd]

. If they cannot be housed with the others, or are a danger to Guards what you you suggest as an alternative?
.

I'm not sure anyone has one (yet) but that's not the purpose of this ruling. The data suggests inmates subjected to indefinite segregation can be permanently harmed by that. Furthermore, it's been deemed that this is also a Charter violation. I talked to one friend who's daughter is a CO in BC, and they're not liking this ruling because, like you, they're asking what else they're supposed to do.

Our correctional system could be worse, but could also be made better. Hopefully this is a step in that direction, eventually at least. I shudder to even go there, but maybe we need a "supermax" prison like they have in the US, to house the worst of the worst.

[Ka-El]

Removing the insane from your sentence Kai El you are left with violent and anger. If they cannot be housed with the others, or are a danger to Guards what you you suggest as an alternative?

They are not banning segregation all together. They are just putting humane limits on it - and yes, I understand the word humane is not going to sit well with some when we're talking about the angriest and most violent, but segregation is still a tool the correctional guards can employ. There are other options as well. Cognitive behavioral therapy (promoting identification and taking responsibility for their thinking that leads to their criminal behavior) has been shown by research to be very effective in working with this group. Their are always going to be examples of guys re-offending after they get out, but to extrapolate that into an overgeneralization of the whole population is an example of the availability heuristic, and does not accurately reflect the successes in reducing recidivism that we can confirm by looking at hard data from research. The one thing we absolutely know for sure, and that is focusing only on punishment (and torture) is not going to have the desired outcome (less recidivism). If our goal is to reduce recidivism, then we need to focus on efforts that actually have a chance of achieving that.

[the truth]

Coming soon to a community near you (maybe even your own).

Violent, angry, and insane.

fyi to late, watch chbc news sometime, crime is everywhere in kelowna

[Ka-El]

fyi to late, watch chbc news sometime, crime is everywhere in Kelowna

I guess it's not "fake news" when it suits your agenda.

you could google "availability heuristic", but I doubt you will.

[normaM]

Ruling or not doesn't address why mentally ill people are jailed.. well of course except Govts for decades cut funding.
I'd not want to work within the Prison system.
And like anything else stats seem to be skewed to suit whatever faction one talks with...
Should the Charter apply to ppl in jail?

[Ka-El]

Ruling or not doesn't address why mentally ill people are jailed.. well of course except Govts for decades cut funding. I'd not want to work within the Prison system.

I’ve been inside the institutions numerous times when I had to interview offenders for reports, and without a doubt I know I wouldn’t want to work inside of an institution either. You bring up a very interesting point though. The continuum between completely sane and certifiable holds a lot of options in between. The grand plan to close mental hospitals in favour of a community housing model sounded great, but it needed the community housing part. How do mentally ill people (from seriously ill to just enough to make living hard) survive on the streets? The police and community corrections spend a great deal of time trying to respond to all kinds on nonsense engaged in by these folk, (the institutions can put difficult people in a cell), ranging from prolific theft to assault and sexual assault. Fortunately, the use of mental health outreach teams is on the increase. I wouldn’t want to work in the Downtown Vancouver East Side. Too frustrating when there are so few supports to offer, stable housing most importantly. Shelter, food and clean-up, and then help them get off the drugs. Not the job of police.

*and these are the angry and violent prisoners some here would lock up in isolation for indefinite periods.

[normaM]

exactly.. they didn't provide community housing with support staff and services in place. I've heard tales of how those " hospitals" were closed, and people without basic Lifeskills out to fend for themselves. And so this it has ended up. Without proper housing really all the outreach workers in the Province simply a bandaid.