The United States criminal justice system has steadily increased the incarceration of people with serious mental illness. As of 2007, people with serious mental illness were twice as likely to be incarcerated as in the community (National Commission on Correctional Health Care, 2002, cited in Litschge & Vaughn, 2009). The offenses that lead to their incarceration in a criminal institution result, in the majority of cases, from symptoms of their mental illness rather than from deviant behavior. Our criminal justice system fails those who would benefit more from the care of a psychiatric rehabilitation facility or psychiatric hospital by placing them in correctional facilities or prisons. Definitions Mental Illness The Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (2000) explains the complexity of defining a mental disorder. , “although this manual provides a classification of mental disorders, it must be recognized that no definition adequately specifies the precise boundaries of the concept of “mental disorder”. The concept of mental disorder, like many other concepts in medicine and science, lacks a consistent operational definition that covers all situations” (American Psychiatric Association, 2000, Introduction, para.29). For the purposes of this article, the mental illnesses mentioned are categorized according to those identified in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, which include serious mental illnesses such as depression, bipolar disorder, dissociative disorder, schizophrenia, and mental illness. anxiety, as well as personality disorders. The Psychiatric Rehabilitation Center (2009) explains the complexity of mental disorders; someone may exhibit symptoms of a mental illness middle of paper ....... The Treatment of Mentally Ill Offenders and Crime Reduction Act 2004: Issues and Prospects. Journal of Forensic Psychiatry and Psychology, 20(4), 542-558. doi:10.1080/14789940802434675National Association of Social Workers. (2008). NASW Code of Ethics (Guide to Daily Professional Conduct for Social Workers). Washington, DC: NASW. Pustilnik, A.C. (2005). Prisons of the mind: Social value and economic inefficiency in the criminal justice response to mental illness. Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 96(1), 217-265. Taken from EBSCOhost. http://web.ebscohost.com.proxy.library.vcu.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?hid=113&sid=bf619647-bf23-4207-ad67-ce1e083ba43d%40sessionmgr110&vid=57Psychiatric Rehabilitation Center. (2009). What are psychiatric disabilities and mental illness? Retrieved from http://www.bu.edu/cpr/reasaccom/whatis-psych.html