Description
One of the most significant medical and social initiatives of the twentieth century was the demolition of the traditional state hospitals that housed most of the mentally ill, and the placement of the patients out into the community. The causes of this deinstitutionalization included both idealism and legal pressures, newly effective medications, the establishment of nursing and group homes, the woeful inadequacy of the aging giant hospitals, and an attitudinal change that emphasized environmental and social factors, not organic ones, as primarily responsible for mental illness.
Though closing the asylums promised more freedom for many, encouraged community acceptance and enhanced outpatient opportunities, there were unintended consequences: increased homelessness, significant prison incarcerations of the mentally ill, inadequate community support or governmental funding. This book is written from the point of view of an academic neurologist who has served 60 years as an employee or consultant in typical state mental institutions in North Carolina and Ohio.
Author: George Paulson
Publisher: McFarland & Company
Published: 06/25/2012
Pages: 220
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.65lbs
Size: 8.90h x 5.90w x 0.60d
ISBN13: 9780786470983
ISBN10: 0786470984
BISAC Categories:
- Social Science | General
- Psychology | Psychopathology | General
About the Author
The late George Paulson, M.D., was an emeritus professor of neurology at The Ohio State University, founding chairman of the Department of Neurology, and former chief of staff of University Hospitals. He wrote more than 300 neurological articles, and six books on local medical history. He lived in Columbus, Ohio.