Twenty-first Century
Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
X-Loop: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Precedence: bulk
Australian Prisons Becoming the New Asylums of the Twenty-first Century
NEWS RELEASE
9 a.m. Thursday, 26 April, 2001
A new policy paper to be launched today by the policy and research arm of
Jesuit Social Services has identified a mass imprisonment of the mentally
ill that has been taking place throughout Australia over the last ten years.
With an increase in the national prison population of 62 per cent over a
period of ten years, from 12,321 in 1988 to 19,906 in 1998 (Australian
Institute of Criminology figures), at a time when there has not been a
significant increase in serious crime, the Director of Jesuit Social
Services, Fat pointed out that our prisons are now being used to deal with
an epidemic where the health system has failed:
In some jurisdictions, such as Victoria, serious crime has actually
diminished according to official government reports, but in four years, the
Victorian prison population increased from 2,440 on 30 June 1996 to 3,153
on 30 June 2000, an increase of 30 per cent or more than 700 prisoners.
Heroin use as a form of self-medication=94 is intended to challenge mental
health professionals, government policy makers, politicians and community
leaders to recognize the growing problem of young Australians becoming
addicted to dangerous drugs because of a pre-existing mental health illness.
The author of the policy paper, former Pentridge Prison chaplain, Father
Peter Norden, explains how Australian prisons are becoming =93the new
asylums of the twenty-first century:
This position paper calls on the community to look beneath the surface of
much illegal drug use and to recognize the underlying mental health
problems that are the prime cause leading an increasing number of young
Australians into the criminal justice system.
While more people are now aware of the link between marijuana use and the
early onset of psychosis in young people, fewer are aware of what is a far
more widespread phenomenon: young Australians becoming addicted as a way
of dealing with serious mental health needs unmet by existing services.
Launch Midday today at The Brosnan Centre, 10 Dawson St, Brunswick, by
Emeritus Prof Vinson, former Head of NSW Corrective Services.
Comment: Fr Peter Norden, Tel: (03) 9427 7388 (w), 0409 0409 94 (m)
*************************************************************************
This posting is provided to the individual members of this group without
permission from the copyright owner for purposes of criticism, comment,
scholarship and research under the "fair use" provisions of the Federal
copyright laws and it may not be distributed further without permission of
the copyright owner, except for "fair use."
--
Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/
Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop
Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink
Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
