Deinstitutionalization: A Controversial Issue In Psychology

The topic of deinstitutionalization is a controversial issue in psychology. Deinstitutionalization refers to a process of relocating chronically mentally disabled populations from institutions to community-based treatment facilities. The idea of the deinstitutionalization reform was created to promote more effective and humane treatment for patients with mental illness via a shift from statewide institutions to more community-based treatment services. Deinstitutionalization first began in the 1950s with the closing and downsizing of multiple asylums, which was initiated by President John E. Kennedy in the United States. These asylums were labeled as “lunatic asylums” and were either shut down or altered. The society held a negative …show more content…
After the initiation of the reform, problems shortly arose. The legislation for community mental health funded $140 million annually to the few hundred mental health centers that were funded with federal money. The legislation’s original design was a $7 billion dollar effort with the goal of creating two thousand communities mental health centers across the country. The elimination of mental hospitals led to an expectation of states to take over the few that existed, even though a significant lack of funding was evident. As a result, many states commenced the campaign of deinstitutionalization to replace community-based practices for financial survival. (Dumont, …show more content…
There is a big controversy that deinstitutionalization played a big role in the high rates of homelessness and people with mental illnesses. The promising rise of new pharmaceuticals as an alternative treatment option also supported the movement to deinstitutionalize. The shift in this care also caused a rift in rights for the patients to refuse or receive treatment. (Shuman, 1991) With the implementation of the deinstitutionalization reform, the United States enacted the idea that an individual has the right to a mental health treatment and a right to a more meaningful form of fair treatment in the judicial system for those who were to be committed to a mental hospital. (Cramer, 2012) In an article by Clayton Cramer, it was stated that: “At least half of these mass murderers (as well as many other murderers) have histories of mental illness”. (Cramer, 2012). In Clayton’s article, the main intent of deinstitutionalization was to move patients from long-term commitment in state hospitals to community-based mental health treatment. The invention of new pharmacological drugs also meant that a majority of individuals with mental illness could be treated and even released within six months, compared to years in an institution. (Cramer,