Community Mental Health Act Of 1963: Article Analysis

687 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: History of mental illness in usa, essay

Imagine suffering from a mental illness and then being placed in an institution where it seems as though no one really cares about you? You’re neglected and abused on a daily basis and you aren’t receiving the proper treatment to help with your mental illness. For many years, thousands of Americans who suffered from mental illnesses, were placed in mental institutions and left untreated. President John F. Kennedy saw a need for change regarding mental health institutions and in 1963, he signed the Mental Retardation Facilities and Community Mental Health Centers Construction Act of 1963. This particular act was supposed to signal changes in the treatment of mental disorders (Murphy & Rigg, 2014). The Community Mental Health Act of 1963 …show more content…

President Kennedy’s rhetoric for signing this bill was mind-blowing and straight to the point. In his speech, President Kennedy argued that, “the mentally ill and the mentally retarded need no longer be alien to our affections or beyond the help of our communities (as cited in Kennedy & Fried, 2015, p.29). This statement proved that President Kennedy was unhappy with the way that individuals with mental illnesses were being treated and he was going to do whatever he could to ensure that they received proper treatment. In John F. Kennedy’s defense, during this time period it was harder to determine the difference between intellectual disability and severe mental illness, which means that individuals who suffered from one of the other (and sometimes both) were all being “warehoused” in the same shamefully run institutions (2015, p.29). Just days prior, John F. Kennedy signed the Maternal and Child Health and Mental Retardation Planning Amendment, which was the first major national legislation to combat mental illness and mental retardation (Kofman, …show more content…

The Community Mental Health Act of 1963, which targeted those with mental illness, authorized funding of about $330 million over a five-year period to provide grants for: a. the construction of research centers and facilities related to mental retardation; b. construction and establishment of community mental health centers; and c. training for teachers who taught handicapped children (Department of Health, Education, and Welfare,

Show More
Related

  • The Treatment and Lives of the Mentally Handicapped During the Great Depression

    1151 Words  | 3 Pages

    “The Great Depression was a worldwide economic slump of the 1930’s” (Fetzer; p.338). The Great Depression caused a catastrophic amount of grief and distress for the citizens of the United States. Some of these citizens, however, faced more problems which caused grief and distress than others. Among those citizens were the mentally ill. During the era of the Great Depression, the mentally handicapped were treated unfairly in almost every aspect of their lives; this included how society treated them, how they were treated medically, and even how their personal lives were affected.

    Read More

  • A Word And My Family's Battle Rhetorical Argument

    1001 Words  | 3 Pages

    Patricia Bauer was a former Washington post reporter and one of the founders of the UCLA, a school for young adults with intellectual disabilities, although she gains most of her knowledge on the topic from raising a daughter with Down Syndrome. This article was originally published in The Washington Post, one of the most circulates newspapers in America. When this article came out in August of 2008, two major things were happening concerning mental disabled people. The first was a movie that came out

    Read More

  • Mental Illness in the 1950's

    704 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the 1950’s, it was common so see people with frightened, uneasy, rejecting, and even arrogant attitudes towards people with mental illnesses. They considered those who were mentally ill as psychotic, violent and frightening. In the today, people are more accepting and understanding when it comes to mental illness, but some people are still ignorant with their responses, just like back then. In the 1950’s mental health treatment was typically provided in large state hospitals and other intuitions. Back then, topics like mental health were kept hush hush; people much rather putting those who were mentally in away in a state facility where someone else could monitor them. Today, people are more understanding.

    Read More

  • Mental Health Disparities in Rural America

    1699 Words  | 4 Pages

    Mental healthcare has a long and murky past in the United States. In the early 1900s, patients could live in institutions for many years. The treatments and conditions were, at times, inhumane. Legislation in the 1980s and 1990s created programs to protect this vulnerable population from abuse and discrimination. In the last 20 years, mental health advocacy groups and legislators have made gains in bringing attention to the disparity between physical and mental health programs. However, diagnosis and treatment of mental illnesses continues to be less than optimal. Mental health disparities continue to exist in all areas of the world.

    Read More

  • Social Values In The Bridgewater State Hospital

    853 Words  | 2 Pages

    As time goes on, the law has put more emphasis on facility just like Bridgewater State Hospital in which many of the actions of the facility workers can face legal consequences such as facing prison time, fines, lawsuits, and etc. Society has a better understanding of why certain people act the way that they do and being more knowledgeable about psychology and mental diseases allows us to have a different approach when dealing with these topics or these individuals. In today’s era, there are many normal individuals who are willing to stand up for those who do not have a voice of their own. I believe that this change in one’s ability to stand up for another individual or group of individuals is what brought about change to the medical environment of those who are mentally

    Read More

  • Dangers of Budget Cuts on Mental Health Care

    1213 Words  | 3 Pages

    Continuing budget cuts on mental health care create negative and detrimental impacts on society due to increased improper care for mentally ill, public violence, and overcrowding in jails and emergency rooms. Origins, of mental health as people know it today, began in 1908. The movement initiated was known as “mental hygiene”, which was defined as referring to all things preserving mental health, including maintaining harmonious relation with others, and to participate in constructive changes in one’s social and physical environment (Bertolote 1). As a result of the current spending cuts approaching mental health care, proper treatment has declined drastically. The expanse of improper care to mentally ill peoples has elevated harmful threats of heightened public violence to society.

    Read More

  • Dehumanization of the Mentally Ill

    1558 Words  | 4 Pages

    Social justice has influence change in policies for the mentally ill. Opening the doors for political reform. Throughout history, the treatment of the mentally ill has taken many shapes. Influence by the time periods core values and ideas of social justice. Before the colonization, society did not see the mentally ill as human beings. This ideology was Influence by religion that considered them to be evil or demons. Especially during the Black Death when people were only looking for escape goats. Day, & Schiele, (2013) This would only make things worse for mentally disabled. Rendering them defenseless and at the will of society. Their disabling conditions would prevent them from self-advocacy. They would have to depend on family members to advocate; and demand social justice for them. The overwhelming societal norms influence by religion and fueled by fear punishment appeared to be the only solution.

    Read More

  • Interview with a Human Service Professional

    1390 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...sion promised to transform mental health care in United States by promoting access to educational and employment opportunities to individuals with mental disabilities, as well as promoting full access to community life (President’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health, 2003)”.

    Read More

  • Reflection Paper On Mental Health Community

    1578 Words  | 4 Pages

    On May 25th 2016 I officially started an internship with Montgomery County’s Department of Mental Hygiene. The department consists of one hard working woman named Sara Borenko who was my supervisor and boss throughout this internship. One of the main duties of Sara’s job is the funding of community programs that are aimed towards helping the mental health community. In fall 2015 I took a class called Community Psychology and while working at this internship; I applied what I had learned from that class and used it to my advantage. Some of the lessons I applied included social oppression, community organizing, stress and coping, and emotional support. Before taking this internship, I didn’t realize how much my county had to offer as for services. I’m inspired by the community and its strides towards helping the mentally ill. I’ve learned a lot during this internship. I’ve gained experience in the field, I’ve grown a broader

    Read More

  • The Criminalization of the Mentally Ill

    3759 Words  | 8 Pages

    The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world and of that over sixty percent of jail inmates reported having a mental health issue and 316,000 of them are severely mentally ill (Raphael & Stoll, 2013). Correctional facilities in the United States have become the primary mental health institutions today (Adams & Ferrandino, 2008). This imprisonment of the mentally ill in the United States has increased the incarceration rate and has left those individuals medically untreated and emotionally unstable while in jail and after being released. Better housing facilities, medical treatment and psychiatric counseling can be helpful in alleviating their illness as well as upon their release. This paper will explore the increasing incarceration rate of the mentally ill in the jails and prisons of the United States, the lack of medical services available to the mentally ill, the roles of the police, the correctional officers and the community and the revolving door phenomenon (Soderstrom, 2007). It will also review some of the existing and present policies that have been ineffective and present new policies that can be effective with the proper resources and training. The main objective of this paper is to illustrate that the criminalization of the mentally ill has become a public health problem and that our policy should focus more on rehabilitation rather than punishment.

    Read More

  • Robert Kennedy Willowbrook Summary

    102 Words  | 1 Pages

    This article expressed, in 1965, Senator Robert Kennedy went by the Willowbrook establishment in New York State where he depicted the living conditions as appalling and unsatisfactory. "They are living in rottenness and earth, their attire in clothes, in rooms less agreeable and lively than the confines in which we place creatures in a zoo." The monstrosities of Willowbrook introduced an era of promoters, charitable associations, suppliers, and experts who effectively pushed for huge change, starting in 1971 with the advancement of Medicaid Intermediate Care Facilities for Persons with Mental Retardation (ICFs/MR), later renamed as ICFs for Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities

    Read More

  • Mentally ill Criminals

    1250 Words  | 3 Pages

    The issue of executing mentally ill criminals has been widely debated among the public. They debate on whether it is right or wrong to execute a person who does not possess the capacity to think correctly. The mental illness is a disease that destroys a person’s memory, emotion, and prevent one or more function of the mind running properly. The disease affects the way a person thinks, feels, behaves and relates to others.When a person is severely mentally ill, his/ her ability to appreciate reality lack so they aspire to do stuff that is meaningless. The sickness is triggered by an amalgamation of genetic, and environmental factors not a personal imperfection. On the death penalty website, Scott Panetti who killed his mother in-law and father-in-law reports that since 1983, over 60 people with mental illness or retardation have been executed in the United States (Panetti). The American Civil Liberties Union says that it is unconstitutional to execute someone who suffered from an earnest mental illness (ACLU).Some people apply the term crazy or mad to describe a person who suffers from astringent psychological disorders because a mad person look different than a mundane human being. The time has come for us to accept the fact that executing mentally ill offenders is not beneficial to society for many reasons. Although some mentally ill criminals have violated the law, we need to sustain a federal law that mentally ill criminals should not be put to death.

    Read More

  • Community Mental Health Act

    1453 Words  | 3 Pages

    Kennedy, J. F. (1963, 2 5). Special Message to the Congress on Mental Illness and Mental Retardation. Retrieved from American Presidency Project: http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=9546

    Read More

  • The Mental Health Stigma in our Society

    1157 Words  | 3 Pages

    There are many ways in which the mentally ill are degraded and shamed. Most commonly, people are stated to be “depressed” rather than someone who “has depression”. It is a common perception that mental illnesses are not a priority when it comes to Government spending just as it is forgotten that most mental health disorders can be treated and lead a normal life if treatment is successful. The effect of this makes a sufferer feels embarrassed and feel dehumanized. A common perception is that they should be feared or looked down upon for something they have not caused. People experience stigma as a barrier that can affect nearly every aspect of life—limiting opportunities for employment, housing and education, causing the loss of family ...

    Read More

  • What Is Special Education Essay

    856 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the early parts of the 20th century, parent advocacy groups like Council for Exceptional Children and National Association for Retarded Citizens worked to bring the needs of individuals with disabilities to the public eye. In 1961, President John F. Kennedy created the President’s Panel on Mental Retardation. The panel recommended changes to the educational programs and about providing states with federal funds to educate children with development disabilities. Many advocates credited and praised President John F. Kennedy as one of many pioneers of special education. Although advocates continued to fight for the rights of individuals with disabilities, students with disabilities were often denied access to public education and sent to special schools, asylums, or other facilities. While at most of these special schools, asylums, hospitals individuals with disabilities were often treated inhumanely, living in dirty facilities with little clothing, food, water, or education. Quality of life for individuals with disabilities was extremely dim. Parents were often torn with wanting what was best for their child and their family along with the high cost of residential treatment. Many families entrusted the care of and education of their children to

    Read More

More about Community Mental Health Act Of 1963: Article Analysis

Open Document