User:Krodriguez3/Evaluate an Article

Evaluate an article
This is where you will complete your article evaluation. Please use the template below to evaluate your selected article.


 * Mentally ill people in United States jails and prisons: Mentally ill people in United States jails and prisons
 * Briefly describe why you have chosen this article to evaluate.
 * There is a stigma with mental health and how some people don't recognize it as a serious issue, and the article I have chosen to evaluate focuses broadly on the lack of resources to mental health facilities and providing people with proper care/support. The imprisonment of those who are mentally ill has become such a major issue within the United States, and it's something that needs to be further discussed, and we as a society should try to work to find resolutions to provide all individuals with access to care, prior to it becoming a larger issue for the individual themselves, but also for others.

Lead

 * Guiding questions


 * Does the Lead include an introductory sentence that concisely and clearly describes the article's topic?
 * Does the Lead include a brief description of the article's major sections?
 * Does the Lead include information that is not present in the article?
 * Is the Lead concise or is it overly detailed?

Lead evaluation
The lead gives an exact overview of the topic, briefly mentioning some of their key points to be later discussed, but they expand on it in such a way that gives the audience a general understanding of what to expect and what to think about while reading on the issue. All information mentioned in their introduction, is relating to their article in some type of way. For the most part, nothing is mentioned just once, and then not touched on later. Following that, I would not say their opening paragraph is overly detailed, as I believe that they incorporated a good amount of what they will be discussing, without giving away major details.

Content

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article's content relevant to the topic?
 * Is the content up-to-date?
 * Is there content that is missing or content that does not belong?

Content evaluation
There is a lot of information pertaining to possible reasons or cause factors relating to the issue, and it includes relevant terminology that contributes to such causes. So, not only does this article focus on those aspects, but it is also heavy with real life examples, studies, and overall good quality evidence to enhance their 'argument' on increasing amounts of those who are mentally ill, being incarcerated at some point in their lives. This background included does seem to be up-to-date, as their findings range from the 1950's to just about 2017. And as far as missing or out of place content, I wish this article would have focused a bit more on some more of those external factors that could have contributed to one's incarceration. The closing of various mental health hospitals is a significant part of the issue, but there are also other things to consider as well. This idea was briefly touched on.

Tone and Balance

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article neutral?
 * Are there any claims that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?
 * Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?
 * Does the article attempt to persuade the reader in favor of one position or away from another?

Tone and balance evaluation
For the most part, this article is relatively neutral, with some points becoming a bit more opinion based and the like, but with something like this, it's hard to argue anything other than wanting to see improvements in the system and provide access and quality care to people. With that being said, I don't think this article was biased in any way. What they primarily did in this piece is present the audience with a surplus amount of factual evidence and general knowledge on the issue, that would then allow them to decide their stance as to whether or not it holds significance as a social issue and how one should interpret it all.

Sources and References

 * Guiding questions


 * Are all facts in the article backed up by a reliable secondary source of information?
 * Are the sources thorough - i.e. Do they reflect the available literature on the topic?
 * Are the sources current?
 * Check a few links. Do they work?

Sources and references evaluation
This articles contains various sources, and most if not all information provided is backed by books, articles, or other Wiki pages. These sources do also provide strong evidence and relevant literature on the topic, with some dating back quite a few years, but there's also some that is close to present day. From the links checked as well, they do work and take you to the original source.

Organization

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article well-written - i.e. Is it concise, clear, and easy to read?
 * Does the article have any grammatical or spelling errors?
 * Is the article well-organized - i.e. broken down into sections that reflect the major points of the topic?

Organization evaluation
The article is very thorough but they present the information in a clear way that makes it easy for the reader to understand, the article does this especially well when incorporating any statistics or real life evidence. As far as grammatical or spelling errors, nothing jumped out or was significant enough for me to notice while reading through. I do also think that the article was broken down nicely, in a way that made sense in order for everything to flow well, without it being an overload of just factual/scholarly information at once. They also did a nice job of transitioning into the topic, as in, here are possible reasons with information to elaborate, incarceration itself, mental health resources thus being offered in jails/prisons, and so on and so forth.

Images and Media

 * Guiding questions


 * Does the article include images that enhance understanding of the topic?
 * Are images well-captioned?
 * Do all images adhere to Wikipedia's copyright regulations?
 * Are the images laid out in a visually appealing way?

Images and media evaluation
This article actually does not include any media or the like, and I would be unsure as to what visuals would go with this topic as well. Maybe photos relating to the set up of psychiatrist offices/meeting areas within prisons would provide more background in a way, but not much be available too.

Checking the talk page

 * Guiding questions


 * What kinds of conversations, if any, are going on behind the scenes about how to represent this topic?
 * How is the article rated? Is it a part of any WikiProjects?
 * How does the way Wikipedia discusses this topic differ from the way we've talked about it in class?

Talk page evaluation
The talk page mainly focuses on things that could have made this article better and what the writer should do for future edits and additional information. There is also some comments left as to how else certain parts could interpreted as opposed to seeing it as just a negative thing to have mentally ill people in prison, because they argue maybe their quality there is better than what they could have received normally. This article is involved/mentioned within some WIkiProjects, like that of "Correction and Detention Facilities". Overall it's rated as a C-class with mid-high importance.

The issue doesn't entirely differ from how we have discussed other issues because we look at how it's being presented in the media, and what is the reaction towards it right now, etc. and I think the article focuses on some aspects of that, although it actually could look at what is the public's reaction to it more and see people's thoughts towards it and if more would be willing to advocate for change within that system.

Overall impressions

 * Guiding questions


 * What is the article's overall status?
 * What are the article's strengths?
 * How can the article be improved?
 * How would you assess the article's completeness - i.e. Is the article well-developed? Is it underdeveloped or poorly developed?

Overall evaluation
As mentioned, this article is rated C-class with mid-high importance from Wikipedia. I thought it was in interesting but also very important topic, because there needs to be a focus within that realm of preventative care so people are provided with the proper resources to improve their quality of life, before things like mental illness influences other areas of their life. The strengths of this article was primarily the amount of evidence and statistics they were able to obtain to show just how big of an issue it is and why some should be worried if it continues. Although, I was looking for more areas that focused on the lack of resources and other factors, like maybe socioeconomic status, to help further their argument. Finally, for completeness, this article is mainly well-developed, but there is definitely room to add more information on the issue and look at other perspectives and the like.