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28 - Mental Health Policy in the United States: Critical Reflection and Future Directions for Sociological Research
- from Part III - Mental Health Systems and Policy: Introduction to Part III
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- By Dennis P. Watson, Assistant Professor, Department of Health Policy and Management, Interim Director, Center for Health Policy, Erin L. Adams, Doctoral Candidate, Department of Psychology, School of Science, Graduate Research Assistant, Center for Health Policy, School of Public Health, Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis, Joanna R. Jackson, Graduate Research Assistant, Center for Health Policy, Department of Health Policy and Management, Indiana University Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health
- Edited by Teresa L. Scheid, University of North Carolina, Charlotte, Eric R. Wright, Georgia State University
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- Book:
- A Handbook for the Study of Mental Health
- Published online:
- 28 May 2018
- Print publication:
- 08 June 2017, pp 573-590
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Summary
This chapter provides an overview of the history of mental health policy in the United States divided into three periods: (1) the development and establishment of the state asylum as the primary mode of mental health treatment; (2) deinstitutionalization and the move to community-based care; and (3) recovery as the guiding vision of mental health care. Federal involvement is a relatively new development in mental health policy, a fact that has lead to significant fragmentation in the mental health care system. While a number of policies since the 1950s have sought to increase social inclusion and the ability for people with mental illness to control their own lives, lack of support for these policies has resulted in relatively slow actual change. However, recent national reforms have potential to make lasting and substantial change. Watson and colleagues describe these reforms and how they may lead to implementation of recovery-oriented principles by improving mental health care access and service quality. They close with a discussion of potential areas for sociological mental health research related to contemporary health policy. What are the gaps in current mental health policy? How can mental health policy promote recovery for people living with mental health problems?
Introduction
Historically, there has been a lack of strong federal involvement in US mental health policy making. The result has been a highly fragmented mental health system with significant differences at the state and local levels of government. In this chapter, we provide an overview of the history of US mental health policy from the seventeenth century to the present, with a particular focus on polices affecting people living with serious and persistent mental illness (SPMI). We have divided the chapter into three broad periods of reform. The first period, the late 1700s through the 1940s, was a time marked by increasing social control over the lives of people with mental illness as states started to assume more responsibility for their care. This period culminated with the state psychiatric hospital (also known as the asylum) as the primary locus of mental health treatment. The 1950s–1980s was a time of advocacy leading to the movement of patients from state mental hospitals and into the community. This period was also marked by increased recognition of the rights of people living with mental illness, albeit with relatively few polices or resources to support them.
Contributors
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- By Isabella Aboderin, W. Andrew Achenbaum, Katherine R. Allen, Toni C. Antonucci, Sara Arber, Claudine Attias‐Donfut, Paul B. Baltes, Sandhi Maria Barreto, Vern L. Bengtson, Simon Biggs, Joanna Bornat, Julie B. Boron, Mike Boulton, Clive E. Bowman, Marjolein Broese van Groenou, Edna Brown, Robert N. Butler, Bill Bytheway, Neena L. Chappell, Neil Charness, Kaare Christensen, Peter G. Coleman, Ingrid Arnet Connidis, Neal E. Cutler, Sara J. Czaja, Svein Olav Daatland, Lia Susana Daichman, Adam Davey, Bleddyn Davies, Freya Dittmann‐Kohli, Glen H. Elder, Carroll L. Estes, Mike Featherstone, Amy Fiske, Alexandra Freund, Daphna Gans, Linda K. George, Roseann Giarrusso, Chris Gilleard, Jay Ginn, Edlira Gjonça, Elena L. Grigorenko, Jaber F. Gubrium, Sarah Harper, Jutta Heckhausen, Akiko Hashimoto, Jon Hendricks, Mike Hepworth, Charlotte Ikels, James S. Jackson, Yuri Jang, Bernard Jeune, Malcolm L. Johnson, Randi S. Jones, Alexandre Kalache, Robert L. Kane, Rosalie A. Kane, Ingrid Keller, Rose Anne Kenny, Thomas B. L. Kirkwood, Kees Knipscheer, Martin Kohli, Gisela Labouvie‐Vief, Kristina Larsson, Shu‐Chen Li, Charles F. Longino, Ariela Lowenstein, Erick McCarthy, Gerald E. McClearn, Brendan McCormack, Elizabeth MacKinlay, Alfons Marcoen, Michael Marmot, Tom Margrain, Victor W. Marshall, Elizabeth A. Maylor, Ruud ter Meulen, Harry R. Moody, Robert A. Neimeyer, Demi Patsios, Margaret J. Penning, Stephen A. Petrill, Chris Phillipson, Leonard W. Poon, Norella M. Putney, Jill Quadagno, Pat Rabbitt, Jennifer Reid Keene, Sandra G. Reynolds, Steven R. Sabat, Clive Seale, Merril Silverstein, Hannes B. Staehelin, Ursula M. Staudinger, Robert J. Sternberg, Debra Street, Philip Taylor, Fleur Thomése, Mats Thorslund, Jinzhou Tian, Theo van Tilburg, Fernando M. Torres‐Gil, Josy Ubachs‐Moust, Christina Victor, K. Warner Shaie, Anthony M. Warnes, James L. Werth, Sherry L. Willis, François‐Charles Wolff, Bob Woods
- Edited by Malcolm L. Johnson, University of Bristol
- Edited in association with Vern L. Bengtson, University of Southern California, Peter G. Coleman, University of Southampton, Thomas B. L. Kirkwood, University of Newcastle upon Tyne
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- Book:
- The Cambridge Handbook of Age and Ageing
- Published online:
- 05 June 2016
- Print publication:
- 01 December 2005, pp xii-xvi
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