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Tyjira Reid

College of Health and Behavioral Sciences, Delaware State University

SCWK 201-01: University Seminar II

Dr. Amy D. Habeger

Critical Essay

5/7/2021
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Mental health is a state of well-being in which an individual realizes his or her own

abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and is able to

contribute to his or her community. There are seven components to mental health: physical,

intellectual, environmental, vocational, social, emotional, and spiritual health. Also, there are

many types of mental health such as anxiety disorder, bipolar disorder, and depression. Mental

health is a problem that people do not want to discuss which is why a lot of people are even

scared to bring up the topic. People can develop a mental illness at any age that can lead to them

not being in a good mental health state.

In the “Just Mercy” book by Bryan Stevenson, there were cases that happened where the

person developed a mental health disorder or already had one. Avery Jenkins was convicted for

killing an older man through repeated stabbing. Jenkins reached out to Bryan Stevenson about

his case. When Stevenson goes to meet with Jenkins, he asks for a milkshake which had

Stevenson thinking that Jenkins have a disorder. In the book, researchers revealed that Jenkins

grew up in foster homes. “He suffered abuse and neglect, including from a foster mother who

tied him to a tree and left him there” (Just Mercy 193). Dealing with these situations, “the abuse

exacerbated his existing intellectual and emotional disabilities” (Just Mercy 197). In the case of

Avery Jenkins, there should not have been an execution. The death penalty during that time

seemed to focus on poor, minority groups such as African Americans. During that time, all

minority groups were discriminated because the whites thought they were superior in America.

Understanding that people can have their own opinions about other race, people should not have

to deal with discrimination due to their skin color. Another case was the case of Herbert
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Richardson who did not intend on killing two innocent girls. He was not in the right state of

mind due to his PTSD and other mental health issues. PTSD is a disorder in which a person has

difficulty recovering after experiencing or witnessing a terrifying event. PTSD stands for post-

traumatic stress disorder. Herbert developed PTSD after fighting in the Vietnam War, so he dealt

with a lot of trauma. Unfortunately, Stevenson did not win this case, so Herbert was executed. In

this case, someone could have referred Herbert to a specialist to help him develop a way to deal

with his condition instead of killing him. Even though he was sentenced to prison, he did not

deserve to die. Some people probably thought he deserved to die, but in reality, no one should

not wish death on anyone.

On October 28, 2020, Walter Wallace Jr., 27, was killed by the Philadelphia police and

needed mental health treatment. Wallace was an aspiring rapper and father of eight, could be

pacified with the mention of his young children or a song he liked. He grappled with mental

illness, including bipolar disorder. In the article, it stated that the mother Hearing that in this

present time, it is very heartbreaking. The police could have been more understanding instead of

just shooting someone. In my opinion, it is a race thing. There was a white male who killed nine

people in a church a few years ago and the police treated him to food to calm him down. But

there was a black man who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and the police did not care

about his state of health. Wallace’s mother begged the police not to shoot her son, but they just

shot him. The police are getting out of control. This situation could have been resolved by the

police asking the mother or Wallace about his mental health or what was going on with him. The

police could have provided a resource for Wallace to get the help he needed instead of killing

him.
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Social work is not just a career where workers help individuals, they help improve the

growth of the communities. There are many ways to bring awareness to mental health. To help

bring awareness to mental health, social workers can create an organization who helps people

with mental health and connect with people that may suffer with the same conditions. Before

starting an organization, workers have made sure they have educated themselves about mental

health. Then, workers can find specialist that specialize in patients that have mental health.

Another way to bring awareness to mental health would be to host a mental health screening

event once a year or even once a month. This event can be opened to the community to educate

people on mental health who may not have full knowledge on it. Also, there can be a fundraiser

to help raise money for a mental health organization.

In conclusion, mental health is an important issue that people need to understand. From

reading “Just Mercy,” mental health was one of the topics that was mentioned a lot among the

people that were convicted. The book has opened my eyes more about the problems that people

had to face in their life. As a future social worker, to create the mental health organization would

be an idea that could possibly be something that would work to help bring awareness to the

people who have mental health.

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Citations

Stevenson, Bryan, author. (2014) Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption. New York:

Spiegel & Grau.

Ortiz, Erik. (Oct. 29, 2020) “Family Says Walter Wallace Jr., Killed by Philadelphia Police,

Needed Mental Health Treatment.” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group,

www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/family-says-walter-wallace-jr-killed-philadelphia-police-

needed-mental-n1245166.