For the soldiers who had symptoms and committed a crime because of them, they should not be sent to jail. It's not their fault. Instead, they should be put through treatment. Today, the soldiers volunteered to help their country. They were not forced to go to war. To have somebody be punished for committing a crime because of a mental problem they received fighting for their country is cruel. If the government really wants more people to join the army, than they should set up a better program to help returning soldiers. It's also because of the lack of helpful programs that many returning soldiers get into drugs and alcohol. In Gast's case, the government found out about his problems with cocaine and alcohol. Instead of helping him, they just dispatched him, basically abandoning him on his own, with no help for his mental issues, and no help for his drug and alcohol problems. He was then depressed and suicidal, and ended up killing an innocent man on his way to work. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison. This whole situation could have been prevented if the army had reached out to Gast, rather than dispatching him. Also, Gast's lawyer did not focus on his PTSD from the war. If she had, the judge might have sent him to get mental help rather than sending him to prison.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Getting Help and Preventing Death
It's impossible for a soldier to come home from a war and be the exact same person he/she was before. The person must have changed mentally (and most likely physically as well.) Although every single soldier does not come home from war with severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, he/she could still have some symptoms, just not enough to be diagnosed.
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I am conflicted in this case. I agree that the government certainly needs to set up programs for PTSD to preempt any cases of resulting violence. After the fact though, I think that they should have therapy as well as jail time - they need to face the consequences of their actions. The jail times does need to be reduced though, or perhaps changed to community service work. I guess I am not entirely sure how I feel about this. Nice reflection though.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Nicole. While any violence is not entirely their fault, they have to take a certain level of responsibility, as seeking treatment for PTSD it something they have to do, on the other hand, there is a lot of societal pressure to act "normal" (whatever that it), which would cause PTSD victims to restrain from seeking help, in order to save face.
ReplyDeleteI think that PTSD victims who commit crimes should be required to have treatment, and depending on the severity of their crime, should also serve time. The main issue here is that everyone wants to just apply laws exactly the same in every situation, regardless of the circumstances. If we would just realize that every circumstance is different and every factor has to be accounted for (such as PTSD), the justice system would be more effective at working for "the general good." (A little off topic)