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A brief history of the criminalization of mental illness

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 March 2020

Joel A. Dvoskin Open the ORCID record for Joel A. Dvoskin [Opens in a new window] ,
James L. Knoll IV  and
Mollie Silva
Joel A. Dvoskin*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Arizona College of Medicine, Tucson, Arizona, USA
James L. Knoll IV
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, New York, USA Central New York Psychiatric Center, Marcy, New York, USA
Mollie Silva
Affiliation:
Tucson, Arizona, USA
*
*Author for correspondence: Joel A. Dvoskin, PhD, ABPP. (Email: joelthed@aol.com)
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Abstract

This article traces the history of the way in which mental disorders were viewed and treated, from before the birth of Christ to the present day. Special attention is paid to the process of deinstitutionalization in the United States and the failure to create an adequately robust community mental health system to care for the people who, in a previous era, might have experienced lifelong hospitalization. As a result, far too many people with serious mental illnesses are living in jails and prisons that are ill-suited and unprepared to meet their needs.

Keywords

criminalizationhistorydeinstitutionalizationjailsprisonscriminal justice.
Type
Review
Information
CNS Spectrums , Volume 25 , Issue 5 , October 2020 , pp. 638 - 650
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press.

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