Back to the Asylum by John Q La Fond

Back to the Asylum by John Q La Fond

Back to the Asylum explains why American mental health law and policy now emphasize "law and order" rather than individualized justice and civil liberties, and why mental health law is currently being reshaped to protect society rather than the mentally ill. The authors convincingly demonstrate how rapidly changing American values gave shape to two very different visions of justice for the mentally ill. They argue that from about 1960 to 1980 - what they call the Liberal era - Americans staunchly supported civil liberties for all, particularly for disadvantaged citizens like the mentally ill. In fact, criminal law itself provided ample opportunities for mentally ill offenders to escape punishment for their crimes. Moreover, deinstitutionalization and restrictive civil commitment laws made it difficult to hospitalize the mentally disabled against their will. However, from 1980 on - what the authors call the Neoconservative era - Americans, fearful of rising crime and the increasing number of homeless in their communities, demanded new laws to restore law and order. Today, it is much harder for mentally ill offenders to escape criminal blame and far easier to put other disturbed citizens into hospitals against their will. Back to the Asylum masterfully explains how this abrupt shift in mental health law and policy - a shift from protecting individual civil rights to protecting the community - impacted the mentally ill. It examines these legal changes in their broader social context and offers a provocative analysis of whether these law reforms had their intended effect. Finally it forecasts the future of mental health law and policy as America enters the twenty-first century.

"The authors, both national experts, one in law and the other in public health, offer a stimulating analysis of the history, societal value changes, and law reforms that affect how we view and care for the mentally illVery useful section with notes; comprehensive bibliography. . . . clear and insightful style . . . " --Choice "A worthwhile book. . . . extensively annotated and, including notes, bibliography, and an effective index, there are almost a hundred pages for the serious reader to research. This is one of the more interesting books on the subject and is valuable both for its provocative style and for the wealth of data on related issues during the past 30 years. I recommend it." --New England Journal of Medicine "Describe[s] and analyze[s] the shifts in the law concerning commitment, the insanity defense, and criminal responsibility in an interesting and, indeed, provocative manner." --American Journal of Psychiatry "A thoughtful interpretation of our national confusion regarding the severely mentally ill, the criminally insane, the insanity defense, and involuntary commitment. . . . weaves both social science and legal perspectives throughout and should appeal to a broad audience as a result." --Michael S. Pollak, Contemporary Psychology "Provides a thorough analysis of the broad social attitudes and political trends, as well as a comprehensive review and synthesis of the emperical literature of the past half century....Its coverage of broader trends in mental disability law and policy provides an important historical context for understanding current and future policy decisions....A very informative and extremely well-written book....Extremely readable....Exceptionally valuable resource."--Journal of Mental Health and Aging

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780195055207
ISBN 10	0195055209
Title	Back to the Asylum
Author	John Q La Fond
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Oxford University Press Inc
Year published	1992-09-03
Number of pages	280
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.