Transinstitutionalisation

Last updated

Transinstitutionalisation is the phenomenon where inmates released from one therapeutic community move into other institutions, either as planned move or as an unforeseen consequence. [1] For instance, when the residential mental hospitals in the United States were closed as the result of a political policy change, the prison population increased by an equivalent number. [2]

Contents

In the United States patients that would have formerly have been in psychiatric hospitals wound up in general hospitals and private nursing homes which then became a growth industry.

There is an over-representation of the mentally ill in corrective settings. There are 400,000 prison inmates[ where? ] with mental health problems, and 25–40% of the mentally ill[ clarification needed ] will spend some time in prison. [2]

Background

In 1939, Lionel Penrose published a cross-sectional study from 18 European countries which included Scandinavia. He demonstrated that there was an inverse relationship between the number of mental hospital beds and the number of prisoners; and then a relationship between the number of mental hospital beds with the number of murders. He argued that by increasing the number of mental institution beds, a society could reduce serious crimes and imprisonment rates. This became known as Penrose's law. [1]

The Canadian sociologist Erving Goffman is credited with popularising the concept of total institutions in his paper "On the Characteristics of Total Institutions", presented in April 1957 at the Walter Reed Institute's Symposium on Preventive and Social Psychiatry, [3] though it was used earlier by Everett Hughes during the late-1940s seminar, "Work and Occupations". [4]

The downsizing of the large psychiatric hospitals in the US and the UK started in the mid-1950s then occurred in most Western European countries during the 1970s. Whether called 'deinstitutionalisation' 'community-based' care, 'open' mental health services or 'decentralised' mental health services, and the total number of beds in these total psychiatric institutions has fallen dramatically. [5]

Deinstitutionalisation

Deinstitutionalisation, the contraction of traditional institutional settings and especially a decline in the number of beds, is a process that takes several decades. Deinstitutionalisation comprises three processes: firstly a shift away from dependence on psychiatric hospitals; then 'transinstitutionalisation' or an increase in the number of mental health beds in general hospitals and nursing homes and finally the growth of community-based inpatient and outpatient services. [5]

It has been conjectured that patients, who lost their homes during the deinstitutionalisation from the large hospitals failed to make the change to independent community living, and self-transinstitutionalised into the criminal custodial system. Transinstitutionalisation is the process that explains Penrose's law. [6]

Related Research Articles

Involuntary commitment, civil commitment, or involuntary hospitalization/hospitalisation is a legal process through which an individual who is deemed by a qualified agent to have symptoms of severe mental disorder is detained in a psychiatric hospital (inpatient) where they can be treated involuntarily. This treatment may involve the administration of psychoactive drugs, including involuntary administration. In many jurisdictions, people diagnosed with mental health disorders can also be forced to undergo treatment while in the community; this is sometimes referred to as outpatient commitment and shares legal processes with commitment.

Outpatient commitment—also called assisted outpatient treatment (AOT) or community treatment orders (CTO)—refers to a civil court procedure wherein a legal process orders an individual diagnosed with a severe mental disorder to adhere to an outpatient treatment plan designed to prevent further deterioration or recurrence that is harmful to themselves or others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Psychiatric hospital</span> Hospital specializing in the treatment of serious mental disorders

Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental health hospitals or behavioral health hospitals, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, dissociative identity disorder, major depressive disorder and many others. Psychiatric hospitals vary widely in their size and grading. Some hospitals may specialize only in short-term or outpatient therapy for low-risk patients. Others may specialize in the temporary or permanent confinement of patients who need routine assistance, treatment, or a specialized and controlled environment due to a psychiatric disorder. Patients often choose voluntary commitment, but those who psychiatrists believe pose significant danger to themselves or others may be subject to involuntary commitment and involuntary treatment. Psychiatric hospitals are sometimes referred to as psychiatric wards/units, psych, or wards/units when they are located as a unit within a hospital.

A total institution or residential institution is a place of work and residence where a great number of similarly situated people, cut off from the wider community for a considerable time, together lead an enclosed, formally administered round of life. Privacy is limited in total institutions, as all aspects of life including sleep, play, and work, are conducted in the same place. The concept is mostly associated with the work of sociologist Erving Goffman.

Psychiatric nursing or mental health nursing is the appointed position of a nurse that specialises in mental health, and cares for people of all ages experiencing mental illnesses or distress. These include: neurodevelopmental disorders, schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, mood disorders, addiction, anxiety disorders, personality disorders, eating disorders, suicidal thoughts, psychosis, paranoia, and self-harm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Castle Peak Hospital</span> Hospital in New Territories, Hong Kong

Castle Peak Hospital is the oldest and largest psychiatric hospital in Tuen Mun, Hong Kong. It has located at the east of Castle Peak in Tuen Mun, the hospital was established in 1961. Currently, it has 1,156 beds, providing a wide variety of psychiatric services such as adult psychiatry, forensic psychiatry, psychogeriatric services, child and adolescent psychiatry, consultation-liaison psychiatry and substance abuse treatments. All wards in the hospital are equipped to accommodate both voluntary and involuntary admitted patients.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deinstitutionalisation</span> Replacement of psychiatric hospitals

Deinstitutionalisation is the process of replacing long-stay psychiatric hospitals with less isolated community mental health services for those diagnosed with a mental disorder or developmental disability. In the late 20th century, it led to the closure of many psychiatric hospitals, as patients were increasingly cared for at home, in halfway houses and clinics, in regular hospitals, or not at all.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Franco Basaglia</span> Italian psychiatrist (1924–1980)

Franco Basaglia was an Italian psychiatrist, neurologist, professor who proposed the dismantling of psychiatric hospitals, pioneer of the modern concept of mental health, Italian psychiatry reformer, figurehead and founder of Democratic Psychiatry architect, and principal proponent of Law 180 which abolished mental hospitals in Italy. He is considered to be the most influential Italian psychiatrist of the 20th century.

Atascadero State Hospital, formally known as California Department of State Hospitals- Atascadero (DSHA), is located on the Central Coast of California, in San Luis Obispo County, halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco. DSHA is an all-male, maximum-security facility, forensic institution that houses mentally ill convicts who have been committed to psychiatric facilities by California's courts. Located on a 700+ acre grounds in the city of Atascadero, California, it is the largest employer in that town. DSHA is not a general purpose public hospital, and the only patients admitted are those that are referred to the hospital by the Superior Court, Board of Prison Terms, or the Department of Corrections.

Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of deleterious mental conditions. These include various matters related to mood, behaviour, cognition, and perceptions.

In clinical and abnormal psychology, institutionalization or institutional syndrome refers to deficits or disabilities in social and life skills, which develop after a person has spent a long period living in mental hospitals, prisons or other remote institutions. In other words, individuals in institutions may be deprived of independence and of responsibility, to the point that once they return to "outside life" they are often unable to manage many of its demands; it has also been argued that institutionalized individuals become psychologically more prone to mental health problems.

Care Programme Approach (CPA) in the United Kingdom is a system of delivering community mental health services to individuals diagnosed with a mental illness. It was introduced in England in 1991 and by 1996 become a key component of the mental health system in England. The approach requires that health and social services assess need, provided a written care plan, allocate a care coordinator, and then regularly review the plan with key stakeholders, in keeping with the National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lunatic asylum</span> Place for housing the insane, an aspect of history

The lunatic asylum or insane asylum was an early precursor of the modern psychiatric hospital.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Basaglia Law</span>

Basaglia Law or Law 180 is the Italian Mental Health Act of 1978 which signified a large reform of the psychiatric system in Italy, contained directives for the closing down of all psychiatric hospitals and led to their gradual replacement with a whole range of community-based services, including settings for acute in-patient care. The Basaglia Law is the basis of Italian mental health legislation. The principal proponent of Law 180 and its architect was Italian psychiatrist Franco Basaglia. Therefore, Law 180 is known as the “Basaglia Law” from the name of its promoter. The Parliament of Italy approved the Law 180 on 13 May 1978, and thereby initiated the gradual dismantling of psychiatric hospitals. Implementation of the psychiatric reform law was accomplished in 1998 which marked the very end of the state psychiatric hospital system in Italy. The Law has had worldwide impact as other counties took up widely the Italian model. It was Democratic Psychiatry which was essential in the birth of the reform law of 1978.

Psychiatric reform in Italy is the reform of psychiatry which started in Italy after the passing of Basaglia Law in 1978 and terminated with the very end of the Italian state mental hospital system in 1998. Among European countries, Italy was the first to publicly declare its repugnance for a mental health care system which led to social exclusion and segregation. The psychiatric reform was also a consequence of a public debate sparked by Giorgio Coda's case and stories collected and analyzed in Alberto Papuzzi's book Portami su quello che canta.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mental health in Russia</span>

Mental health in Russia is covered by a law, known under its official name—the Law of the Russian Federation "On Psychiatric Care and Guarantees of Citizens' Rights during Its Provision", which is the basic legal act that regulates psychiatric care in the Russian Federation and applies not only to persons with mental disorders but all citizens. A notable exception of this rule is those vested with parliamentary or judicial immunity. Providing psychiatric care is regulated by a special law regarding guarantees of citizens' rights.

Involuntary commitment or civil commitment is a legal process through which an individual who is deemed by a qualified agent to have symptoms of severe mental disorder is detained in a psychiatric hospital (inpatient) where they can be treated involuntarily.

The United States has experienced two waves of deinstitutionalization, the process of replacing long-stay psychiatric hospitals with less isolated community mental health services for those diagnosed with a mental disorder or developmental disability.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Correctional nursing</span> Nursing for prisoners

Correctional nursing or forensic nursing is nursing as it relates to prisoners. Nurses are required in prisons, jails and detention centers; their job is to provide physical and mental healthcare for detainees and inmates. In these correctional settings, nurses are the primary healthcare providers. These nurses also work with victims and assist in expert witness testimonies and are involved in a variety of legal cases including paternity disputes and workplace injuries.

References

  1. 1 2 Hartvig, Pål; Kjelsberg, Ellen (12 July 2009). "Penrose's Law revisited: The relationship between mental institution beds, prison population and crime rate". Nordic Journal of Psychiatry. 63 (1): 51–56. doi:10.1080/08039480802298697. hdl: 10852/27918 . PMID   18985517. S2CID   23873740.
  2. 1 2 Ford, Matt. "America's Largest Mental Hospital Is a Jail". Atlantic Monthly. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
  3. Goffman, Erving (1961). Asylums: essays on the social situation of mental patients and other inmates. Anchor Books. ISBN   9780385000161.
  4. Fine, Gary Alan; Smith, Gregory W. H. (2000). Erving Goffman. Vol. 1–4. SAGE. p. 36. ISBN   0-7619-6863-6.
  5. 1 2 Pedersen, Per Bernhard; Kolstad, Arnulf (2009). "De-institutionalisation and trans-institutionalisation - changing trends of inpatient care in Norwegian mental health institutions 1950-2007". International Journal of Mental Health Systems. 3 (1): 28. doi: 10.1186/1752-4458-3-28 . PMC   3402049 . PMID   20035623.
  6. Kalapos, Miklós Péter (September 2016). "Penrose's law: Methodological challenges and call for data". International Journal of Law and Psychiatry. 49 (Pt A): 1–9. doi:10.1016/j.ijlp.2016.04.006. PMID   27143118.

Further reading