By Daniel Carolan | Development Associate
At 3 Generations we have been documenting stories about the inequalities of the criminal justice system for a number of years. We recently co-produced a documentary with Beti Films, Any Given Day. The film exposes the challenges and injustices of treating mental health issues through the criminal justice system.
A recent article by Scientific American, Dementia in Prison Is Turning into an Epidemic, brings awareness to the growing elderly prison population and the increase in mental health issues. The Pew Charitable Trusts did a survey and found “that the number of inmates age 55 or older increased by 280 percent from 1999 to 2016.” (Scientific American). More often than not, these aging prisoners are individuals who have had limited access to health care, a poor diet, potential trauma and may have battled with drug or alcohol addiction. All of these factors lead to an increased risk in mental health and dementia as they age.
Mental health within the criminal justice system is an issue that continues to loom larger as a result of the ‘tough on crime’ generation who are now facing life sentences without parole. The message of Any Given Day is more relevant now than ever before.
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