The imprisonment of offenders with mental health problems has been the most troubling aspect of penal practice. Since the beginning of prisons, they have provided the ideal setting for the mentally ill. Today, the number of mentally ill offenders is increasing dramatically and prisons and correctional centers are overflowing. A wide range of these offenders suffer from disorders such as schizophrenia, which is the inability to think and/or manage emotions. Depending on the crime committed and the mental state of the offender, criminals suffering from mental illnesses should not be imprisoned but rather treated in mental health facilities. This essay will discuss by highlighting deinstitutionalization, treatment of offenders in prison and suicide rate. To begin with, mentally ill offenders deserve to be treated, not punished. The primary cause of many mentally ill offenders ending up in prison is the deinstitutionalization of psychiatric institutions over the past 30 years (The Globe and Mail). Deinstitutionalization involves replacing mental health hospitals with less isolated community mental health services for people suffering from these illnesses. This process works in two ways: first by reforming psychiatric hospitals to eliminate or reduce the reinforcement of addiction, hopelessness, and other dysfunctional behaviors; the second focuses on reducing the population size of psychiatric institutions by shortening stays, discharging patients, and reducing admission and readmission rates (Wikipedia, 2013). Starting from a positive goal of helping these sick people, it ended up causing more harm. them well. Public and private psychiatric hospitals contain approximately 100,000 beds, which means that... middle of paper ...... but in prisons but rather in psychiatric health facilities. , the treatment of the offender in prison and the suicide rate that a wide range of these offenders result in serious mental disorders and require professional attention. Depending on the crime committed and the mental state of the offender, criminals suffering from mental illnesses should not be imprisoned but rather treated in mental health facilities. The correctional system has been shown to be no place for them and lacks the proper measures that a psychiatric hospital would need to care for these inmates. Therefore, the state must invest in placing mentally disordered offenders in specialized programs or facilities where they could serve their sentences - depending on their crimes - while still being able to receive appropriate treatment..