Deinstitutionalization

How did deinstitutionalization affect the local community in your article?

How is the local community dealing with related problems, such as homelessness, crime, and the spread of communicable diseases?

The article found in the University library was a study on deinstitutionalization and its effect on the community. The study is a critical assessment of the established theories explaining the history, process, and consequences of the Federal and state policies of deinstitutionalizing mental patients. It documents the quality of life of a sample of former patients, and the extent to which they receive their full range of rights and privileges.. The study found that the pursuit by private board and care home landlords of profit maximization and resident control resulted in a low quality of life for former patients and fostered conformity, dependence, and passive behavior. The landlords were aided in their promotion of resident control by mental health professionals through their use of the logic of medical treatment, and the heavy reliance on psychotropic medication as the primary source of treatment for former patients. The landlords' attempts to reduce costs at the expense of the former patients' quality of life were also aided by a weak and ineffective State regulatory agency. Thus, the cooperation of landlords, mental health professionals, and State regulatory agencies served to mimic conditions in the community similar to those that existed in State mental hospitals. An inter-organizational conflict strategy based upon political, legal, and community advocacy was found to be efficacious in securing an increase in the quality of life for former patients.