Pete Earley: Deinstitutionalism Analysis

A loved one, killed. This is many people’s worst nightmare. The loved ones of the mentally ill are in constant worry of this, knowing that the person they love could suffer from a sudden psychotic breakdown and put their lives at risk without realizing it. The fact that the mentally ill cannot control themselves and may engage in criminal activity as a result has led a struggle for police departments as people who are unaware of their actions - essentially innocent people - are killed. Through an effective argument that utilizes multiple appeals, Pete Earley suggests the necessity of special police forces to handle mentally ill suspects. When the practice of deinstitutionalism was first implemented, the police departments had to handle …show more content…
Earley attempts to be convincing regarding this idea by speaking of their training program as he induces a sympathetic response by juxtaposing the description of how the officers viewed the mentally ill as “unpredictable lunatics” on the streets, but as “someone’s brother, sister, child, or parent” in the hospital (9). He also creates appeals to logic through speaking of the training program; in his illustration of the program, he shows that they are specially trained and are needed by the community. Furthermore, Earley presents the ethical purpose of this training program, which is especially attractive to the loved ones of the mentally ill; that the “priority was getting a disturbed suspect into a hospital, not… jail” (8). In only the description of the creation of the program, Earley manages to strengthen his argument through appealing to a large audience and their emotional, logical, and ethical