Community activism and community mental health: A chimera of the sixties, a view from the eighties

Abstract

The conclusion that the decline of community mental health is primarily a result of the current political, social, and fiscal environment is examined in this paper. Following an analysis of the community mental health movement, its ideology and origins, data from several studies are cited to support the thesis that community mental health ideology was not internalized by community mental health center directors and workers, as demonstrated in their attitudes or role behaviors. The data are supported by analysis of the division of time and effort in the activities of community mental health centers during the 1970s. Since these data were gathered at the height of the community mental health movement, the current state of the movement is interpreted in part as a reflection of the basic lack of ideological and role commitment to it on the part of staff in community mental health centers. These observations are discussed in the context of community mental health as an incomplete social movement.

The Effect of Raffle Odds on Signing In at a Treatment Center for Adults with Mental Illness

“…Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or Community mental health centers provide medication management, job training, psychotherapy, and socialization opportunities to persons with psychiatric diagnoses, and often serve individuals with severe and persistent mental illness. In recent years, local, state, and federal funding for these centers has been in jeopardy due to budget cuts (Robin & Wagenfeld, 1988). Often, funding for any individual center is made contingent upon the number of individuals that the center can prove it serves.…”

The role of primary prevention in mental health services: A review and critique

“…Rumer, 1980). Moreover, Robin and Wagenfeld (1988) took the position that the ideologies which gave rise to the initial movement into community mental health have been replaced, within the United States, by ones which attempt to remove governmental responsibility for social change aimed at ameliorating the social conditions of the relatively disadvantaged. A similar shift appears to have taken place within the British context, with the rise of Thatcherism and its accompanying focus on individual responsibility.…”

“…Certainly, the majority of prevention work to date has been 'person-centred' (Elias, 1987) in orientation (Cowen, 1983). Robin and Wagenfeld (1988), however, also contended that the 'failure' of community mental health (cf. Moitoza and Hersch, 1981) was also, in part a product of the 'structural and ideological bases' of the movement towards community mental health.…”