Abstract
The varieties of care for the chronically mentally ill reflect to a greater or lesser extent three distinct orientations: to seclude and punish, to treat and rehabilitate, and to provide refuge and retreat. Unfortunately contemporary small intensive treatment hospitals and rehabilitation oriented halfway houses tend to revert back to traditional seclusion and punishment techniques out of a sense of professional responsibility. A more radical alternative, the cooperative commune—for example, Kingsley Hall—avoids seclusion and punishment and provides refuge and treatment, but because of its permissive and elitist attitudes is unlikely to win public support. Given this dilemma, we recommend the development of nonprofessional neighborhood groups that have no vested interest in controlling the mentally ill but that are naturally accepting and therapeutic. To illustrate this approach, a history of a volunteer community group is related.
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Denner, B. Returning madness to an accepting community. Community Ment Health J 10, 163–172 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01410895
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01410895