In sight, in mind: mental health policy in the era of deinstitutionalisation

Abstract

This paper outlines the key goals of Australia’s National Mental Health Strategy in attempting to persuade state governments to pursue the progressive deinstitutionalisation of Australia’s stand alone public psychiatric hospitals and the mainstreaming of inpatient psychiatric care in wards of general hospitals. It utilises Goffman’s (1961) critique of asylums and the comprehensive audit of Victoria’s public psychiatric services in 1992 to illustrate some important deficiencies in the old asylum system of mental health care. The paper argues that, though the process of deinstitutionalisation in Australia is incomplete and there are many problems, sufferers from mental illnesses are now in a very real sense ‘in sight’ and ‘in mind’. The paper concludes with proposals for sociological research in the mental health field.

Key Words:

• mental health policy
• stand alone psychiatric hospitals
• deinstitutionalisation