But the intersection of the two is much greater, and more tragic. We often hear about mental illness in connection with criminal justice when there's a high profile crime and people rush to offer explanations (usually when the defendant is white). And one day it might be your child or your spouse or your brother - or you - behind those closed doors. Until we start flinging open those closed doors and shining light into the darkness, the abuse will continue. I would love for everyone to read this book. It's about time we extended the same human courtesy to people with mental illness.Insane is an exceptionally well researched, well written, profound, and disturbing look at the way we're treating an already marginalized segment of society. We would not lock a cancer patient in an isolation cell because he/she is too sick to live within the general population. As the author points out, mental illnesses are diseases of the mind, just as cancer is a disease of the body. We see the good, the bad, and perhaps worst of all, the indifference in how the sick are treated. We meet patients and family, as well as cops and corrections officers and psychologists. Alisa Roth takes us with her into the reality of what it's like for someone with a mental illness who gets caught in the criminal justice system. The most powerful aspect, for me, is that it's so much more than a thoughtful narrative citing facts and data. I've read quite a bit on this topic over the years, but still this book shook me.
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