Community Life for the Mentally Ill : An Alternative to Institutional Care

Community Life for the Mentally Ill presents a social innovative experiment aimed at providing new and more participating social positions in American society for mental patients. It presents the events that occurred when a courageous group of former chronic mental patients abruptly left a hospital and established their own autonomous sub-society in a large, metropolitan area. In order to complete this experiment, the patients created a small society in the community where discharged patients could live and work. Others evaluated the effects of the newly created society upon the behavior and perceptions of its members, which is also presented here. Both the descriptive and comparative aspects of this study are presented as they occurred in real life. The book is concerned with the medical, economic, sociological, and psychological facets of these former patients' daily lives. The effects of this small society upon the neighborhood and city in which it was located, as well as its effects upon professional persons, are richly explored. Clearly defining a radical departure from standard methods for treating the mentally ill, the authors conclude that such an autonomous society can thrive in the appropriate setting; the ex-patient's chances of employment are increased and the chance of recidivism are reduced; the member's self-esteem is enhanced; treatment costs are greatly reduced; the community adjustment of all members is increased, especially among those who have been hospitalized for a long period. With new guidelines for identifying danger zones in urban settings, this becomes a critical work. George W. Fairweather was professor of psychology at Michigan State University and is author of Methods for Experimental Social Innovation and Social Psychology in Treating Mental Illness . David H. Sanders was professor of psychology and psychiatry at Michigan State University. He has also been a research associate at Stanford University. David L. Cressler and Hugo Maynard were professors of psychology at Portland State University. They have also been research associates at Stanford University. ""Community Life for the Mentally Ill" presents a social innovative experiment aimed at providing new and more participating social positions in American society for mental patients. It presents the events that occurred when a courageous group of former chronic mental patients abruptly left a hospital and established their own autonomous sub-society in a large, metropolitan area. In order to complete this experiment, the patients created a small society in the community where discharged patients could live and work. Others evaluated the effects of the newly created society upon the behavior and perceptions of its members, which is also presented here. Both the descriptive and comparative aspects of this study are presented as they occurred in real life. The book is concerned with the medical, economic, sociological, and psychological facets of these former patients' daily lives. The effects of this small society upon the neighborhood and city in which it was located, as well as its effects upon professional persons, are richly explored. Clearly defining a radical departure from standard methods for treating the mentally ill, the authors conclude that such an autonomous society can thrive in the appropriate setting; the ex-patient's chances of employment are increased and the chance of recidivism are reduced; the member's self-esteem is enhanced; treatment costs are greatly reduced; the community adjustment of all members is increased, especially among those who have been hospitalized for a long period. With new guidelines for identifying danger zones in urban settings, this becomes a critical work."--Provided by publisher Cover 1 Half title 2 Title Page 4 Copyright 5 PREFACE 6 PART I. THE SOCIAL INNOVATIVE EXPERIMENT 12 1 Overview of the Experiment 14 2 Social Status and Mental Illness 20 3 Planning and Implementing the Project 33 PART II. EVOLUTION OF AN AUTONOMOUS SOCIETY IN THE COMMUNITY 54 4 The Era of Maximum Professional Supervision 56 5 A Governing Body Emerges 81 6 The Attempt at Self-Government 99 7 Autonomy at Last 112 PART III. INTERCHANGE WITH THE SURROUNDING COMMUNITY 138 8 The Socioeconomic Environment of the Lodge 140 9 Social Exchange with the Community 160 10 Relations with the University 178 11 Medical Care for the Members 194 PART IV. COMPARISON OF THE COMMUNITY ENVIRONMENTS 208 12 The Community Adjustment of Lodge Members 210 13 The Effect of Volunteering and Chronicity on Community Adjustment 249 14 The Relationship between the Social Situation and Treatment Criteria 273 15 Group Processes in the Hospital and Community Social Subsystems 289 PART V. IMPLICATIONS FOR INNOVATIVE RESEARCH WITH THE MENTALLY ILL AND THER MARGINAL GROUPS 314 16 Staff and Patient Views of Innovative Hospital and Community Treatment Programs 316 17 Operating Principles for Community Treatment Subsystems 332 18 A Recurrent Social Problem: Changing the Social Status of Marginal Man 348 INDEX 362 Presents a social innovative experiment aimed at providing participating social positions in American society for mental patients. This book explores the events that occurred when a courageous group of former chronic mental patients abruptly left a hospital and established their own autonomous sub-society in a large, metropolitan area.