Batman: Arkham Asylum, prison system, and mental health

I am not a huge Batman fan. Sure, I know the major basic information that most individuals know of him: orphan, genius, business man, philanthropist, super hero. His world is rather dark and bleak, though depending on the cartoon rendition it could be quite humorous.  I never understood the rabid fascination his fans have towards him. So when I finally broke down and bought the WB Bundle a few weeks back, I knew that Arkham Asylum was one of the highest rated games of the year. What I didn’t know was that it was an exploration of the prison system and mental health.

Language is the first thing that struck me as I began the game. The guards refer to the inmates as “it” and “animals,” language that dehumanizes their existence.  Furthermore, the place seems to have been built like a fortress: nothing seems to get in or out without some sort of notice. As such, it puzzles me greatly that some of the inmates (Szazz in particular) escaped without notice.

Now, I am aware that the individuals at Arkham are the worst of the worse, super villains who have done horrid things to Gotham. It is no small wonder that when they get out of their cells and start running around the massive island, the majority of guards are murdered. Again, those with the heaviest criminal go there so it may not really matter as such individuals tend to have major trauma in their background and/or personality disorders.

But is this treatment of the prisoners right? More and more in our prison system around the [US] country, there have been reports of abuses in prisons:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/31/prison-problem-population-expansion_n_4181688.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/31/private-prison-mississippi-barbaric-conditions-_n_3362596.html

And I am sure, and know, that there are tons of videos and articles on the problem. As such, it is no wonder that as the game progresses that Batman encounters more and more “insane” inmates as opponents as their poor treatment caused them to lose themselves. The game openly suggests that the environment created such individuals.

Mental health goes in hand with this thought. The way Dr. Young talked about their treatment is downright disturbing and sounded like she was talking about lab rats and not human beings. In fact, I doubt that the ACA and the APA (respectively) will approve of her experimentation.

This also brings up the psychiatrists as well.

It is a well known secret in the counseling community that psychiatrists are generally looked down upon by counselors/psychotherapists. The reason for this stereotyped thinking is simple: psychiatrists are medical professionals trained in how medications influence the brain and tend to believe that medication solves everything (delusions cannot be medicated away as they are fixed beliefs). They do not know how to counsel or move their patients/clients/consumers (whichever term you prefer) forward. They tend not to understand how their diction and actions influence their clients’ behaviors and the relationship between the professional and the client.

From what I’ve heard in the tapes so far, the majority of them are not asking their questions correctly (they tend to be closed and do not facilitate exploration) nor are they moving them forward (at least they are not making things worse). An example of this is when one psychiatrist interviews The Riddler about his childhood. Instead of saying, “I want to go there,” she could have responded with “Oh, I thought a person of your intelligence would understand the importance of such exploration.” This feeds not only his ego (which he would probably like), it also helps join with him and would have facilitated some rapport.

By far, the most offensive thing I’ve heard occurs when Killer Croc asked a psychiatrist if she was going to make him “normal.” Completely missing the point of the question, she responds “Normal is a poor choice of words. What is normal?” While the last part is a solid question that normalizes mental health experiences, he meant that he wants to be a regular person. Thus, he backtracked out of it and fell back on his old routine of intimidation. Whatever rapport they had was broken. She failed to recognize or apologize about this. Considering his background, she should have asked “what does normal look like to you?” That could have gotten him to open up and respond about his dream of looking and being “human” again. Who would have thought that Killer Croc, deep down inside, wants to live a life like you or me?

And then there’s the psychiatrist who is treating Poison Ivy who “fell in love” with her. No board, hospital, or organization will easily trust him again for such an action because it is an ethics violation. As far as they are concerned, even though Ivy has mind control powers, it is the professional’s responsibility as he has the most power in the relationship. Perhaps this is why Harley Quinn’s fall from psychiatric intern genius to villain side-kick seems to be so troubling: she let herself get seduced by Joker’s promises.

So where does this leave us? Arkham Asylum seems to point out everything that’s wrong with the prison system: poor treatment, lack of mental health procedures, and ultimately a poor prognosis –even for such difficult individuals– for the prison population.  Here in the US, we have around a 50% recidivism rate. And as I understand it, a part of it is because it’s the only world that the prisoners understand. The solution might be the opposite of what happens in Arkham: treat the prisoners like human beings, have mental health practitioners who actually know what they are doing, identify problems and solve them before they get out of control, and have stronger safeguards in place to make Arkham a safe place for everyone.

Now, will this work with our prison system? I don’t know. But if Arkham is anywhere near an actual representation of our own, things definitely need to change.