Hi I'm struck by the last sentence in Mike's quote from the panel. Is it really the case that disempowerment is what leads people (in general or just those with mental illness?) to be violent? How is that any less an over-generalization and stigmatizing about poor people than asserting that people with mental illness are likely to be violent? Would not a more proximal question be whether levels of funding, with or without cutbacks mentioned in the second quote, impact the ability to identify those with mental illness who are at risk of violence, as acknowledged in the first quote? Or is it inappropriate even to suggest and act as though mental illness is sometimes a factor in acts of violence? Has there been, for example, a loss of or failure to hire sufficient people (psychologists?) to carry out risk assessments or a lack of research on the kinds of instruments that have been developed for the prison system? Ironically, perhaps, the failure to address at the ground level violence associated with mental illness could have a far more stigmatizing consequence than explicitly addressing the issue because these kinds of events get wide publicity and probably instigate and reinforce negative beliefs about mental illness and violence. I am not arguing against more humane care (i.e., funding) for people with mental illness, just questioning whether the lack of such care is the primary issue with respect to violence among this group. Take care Jim James M. Clark Professor of Psychology 204-786-9757 204-774-4134 Fax [email protected]
>>> "Mike Palij" <[email protected]> 17-Jun-11 2:57 PM >>> The NY Times has a sad story about the death of a young woman who worked in a group home for people with mental illness. One of the residents, a man suffering from schizophrenia, killed her. The focus of the article, however, is not so much about the death but how this situation could occur, that is, is the mental health delivery system that is supposed to be operating failing both the clients and service providers? Quoting from the article: ... |*The overwhelming majority of consumers are not more dangerous |than the general population, although there is a very small group |that does cause concern,* said Dr. Kenneth Appelbaum, a co-chairman |of the task force. *How to go about addressing safety concerns |without adding stigma is a challenge.* | |Rising to address the panel, Laurie Martinelli, the executive |director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness in Massachusetts, |said the issue raised by Ms. Moulton*s case * and by the subsequent |killing of a homeless shelter employee * was not whether people |with mental illness were violent. | |*The elephant in the room is the state mental health budget,* she said. | *Did the murders have something to do with funding cutbacks?* | |The *historical budget levels* posted on the department*s Web site |show a nearly 10 percent decline in appropriations for mental health |from 2009 through 2011. Additional information requested for this |article * on midyear cuts, budget supplements and trust fund |spending * indicates that the money available to the department |probably declined somewhat less, by about 6 percent. | |Joellen Stone, a client of the department trained to help others |with mental illness, told the panel that the people she counsels are |living in *utter poverty * in apartments with bed bugs and rats and |drug dealers in the hall.* | |*They*re closing hospitals, and people are ending up in nursing |homes or substandard housing. It just saddens me,* she said. |*If we don*t get funding, we*re either on the street, in prison, dead |or rather be dead. And when people are disempowered, that*s when |they*re likely to become violent.* http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/17/us/17MENTAL.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha2&pagewanted=all --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=11043 or send a blank email to leave-11043-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
