• About
    • Login
    View Item 
    •   Institutional Repository Home
    • Law School
    • Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Works
    • View Item
    •   Institutional Repository Home
    • Law School
    • Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Works
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Browse

    All of Institutional RepositoryCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsDepartmentThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsDepartment

    My Account

    LoginRegister

    Treatment of the Mentally Disabled: Rethinking the Community-First Idea

    Slobogin, Christopher, 1951-
    : http://hdl.handle.net/1803/5854
    : 1990

    Abstract

    In the past several decades the treatment, habilitation and education of the mentally disabled has been heavily influenced by what could be called the "community-first" movement. This movement which encompasses such developments as deinstitutionalization, the least restrictive alternative doctrine, normalization, mainstreaming,and outpatient commitment-is based on the idea that, in caring for the mentally disabled, we should favor placement in the community rather than in institutions segregated from mainstream populations. The community-first idea is not unanimously supported. But Congress, many courts, and countless advocacy groups composed of lawyers, mental health professionals and laypeople have rallied behind the community first standard as a means of providing more effective treatment, habilitation and education with fewer restrictions on liberty and less stigmatization. The burden of this article is to highlight the challenges to this near consensus. Although the community first notion clearly offers much that is good, we should recognize that in at least some contexts it has had significant adverse consequences. Some community-based approaches are based on flawed premises. Even if these flaws were eradicated, serious implementation problems abound. This article examines some of these conceptual and practical problems. The purpose of canvassing the dark side of the community-first idea is to curtail blind endorsement of it and to suggest, in a broad way, reforms of the reforms.
    Show full item record

    Files in this item

    Thumbnail
    Name:
    Treatment of the Mentally ...
    Size:
    1.437Mb
    Format:
    PDF
    Description:
    article published in law review
    View/Open

    This item appears in the following collection(s):

    • Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Works

    Connect with Vanderbilt Libraries

    Your Vanderbilt

    • Alumni
    • Current Students
    • Faculty & Staff
    • International Students
    • Media
    • Parents & Family
    • Prospective Students
    • Researchers
    • Sports Fans
    • Visitors & Neighbors

    Support the Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries

    Support the Library...Give Now

    Gifts to the Libraries support the learning and research needs of the entire Vanderbilt community. Learn more about giving to the Libraries.

    Become a Friend of the Libraries

    Quick Links

    • Hours
    • About
    • Employment
    • Staff Directory
    • Accessibility Services
    • Contact
    • Vanderbilt Home
    • Privacy Policy