The treatment of those who are vulnerable is infinitely telling about the values a country holds. The rapid decline of mental health institutions in the United States can be correlated to the rise in prison population and homelessness. America is a country with such advanced medical technology and supposed equal opportunity, and this would lead one to believe extensive resources are being poured into treatment and protection for those with mental illnesses, but this is not the case. With a disturbing history, people have a flawed idea of what inpatient mental health institutions would look like today, and this leads to a willingness to cut funding and ignore the problem. Mental health institutions in today’s world of ethics and medical treatments
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He claims the concept of mental illness treatment has grown controversial for historians since a book by Michel Foucault was published in 1965 called Madness and Civilization. This book argued mental institutions and prisons have been used by elites as a form of social control since the early eighteenth century. This viewpoint is thought to be a contributing factor that led to the disuse of inpatient mental health institutions in the United States. Prior to the twentieth century, inpatient mental health facilities were the focal point of treatment. Due to the fact that admission to this facilities was generally a long-term, with patients seldom ever leaving, the “asylums” were phased out over time and replaced with outpatient care facilities. The cruelty towards and incarceration of those with mental illness led to societal stigma not only for patients but towards mental health care facilities in general, which is a problem still seen today …show more content…
In a thorough review of studies between 1980 and 1999, Shannon Kim, et al., University of Minnesota, the outcomes of deinstitutionalization for people with intellectual disabilities are explored. Intellectual disabilities, while separate from mental illness, were often treated in similar facilities. The closure of facilities beginning in the 1960s led to the deinstitutionalization of many people with mental illness and intellectual disabilities. The review concludes that those who are institutionalized see greater behavioral benefits from those who are not institutionalized or those who were displaced (Kim, et al.). The use of inpatient facilities and group homes is exceedingly helpful in the treatment of intellectual disability and mental illness alike, though they are becoming decreasingly
He claims the concept of mental illness treatment has grown controversial for historians since a book by Michel Foucault was published in 1965 called Madness and Civilization. This book argued mental institutions and prisons have been used by elites as a form of social control since the early eighteenth century. This viewpoint is thought to be a contributing factor that led to the disuse of inpatient mental health institutions in the United States. Prior to the twentieth century, inpatient mental health facilities were the focal point of treatment. Due to the fact that admission to this facilities was generally a long-term, with patients seldom ever leaving, the “asylums” were phased out over time and replaced with outpatient care facilities. The cruelty towards and incarceration of those with mental illness led to societal stigma not only for patients but towards mental health care facilities in general, which is a problem still seen today …show more content…
In a thorough review of studies between 1980 and 1999, Shannon Kim, et al., University of Minnesota, the outcomes of deinstitutionalization for people with intellectual disabilities are explored. Intellectual disabilities, while separate from mental illness, were often treated in similar facilities. The closure of facilities beginning in the 1960s led to the deinstitutionalization of many people with mental illness and intellectual disabilities. The review concludes that those who are institutionalized see greater behavioral benefits from those who are not institutionalized or those who were displaced (Kim, et al.). The use of inpatient facilities and group homes is exceedingly helpful in the treatment of intellectual disability and mental illness alike, though they are becoming decreasingly