Advert from 1962 from Smith and Kline & French Laboratories for the drug “Thorazine.”
by Ilya Kudryashov
Lucy Winer’s documentary Kings Park: Stories From an American Mental Institution includes an interview with Stephen Allen White, a former patient of Kings Park Psychiatric Hospital who was transferred to Riverhead Jail under the offense of trespassing. Stephen Allen White’s story and the shift from institutionalization to independent living served as a reminder of the opportunities and inherent challenges of this transition. When Kings Park shut down in 1996, White was at risk for homelessness, and he emphasizes in his interview that “I’m homeless and I shouldn’t be homeless. I have a psychiatric condition also.”[1] Stephen Allen White’s story is one of many that illustrate the personal struggles of those with psychotic and substance use disorders that have been affected by the transition to community-based care due to deinstitutionalization. By examining the experiences of individuals such as Stephen Allen White, these narratives highlight the long-term consequences of deinstitutionalization, including issues related to access to mental health services, housing, and employment.
The deinstitutionalization movement gained momentum during the mid-twentieth century, resulting in the closure of large psychiatric hospitals throughout the United States and a shift towards community-based care as the preferred model for addressing mental health crises. The movement sought to transfer former patients from centralized mental institutions to more community-based care settings as a means of providing more personalized mental healthcare. The 1990s to early 2000s then witnessed the expansion of community policing in order to respond to the limitations of traditional law enforcement methods. American psychiatrist Jonathan Metzl pinpoints the general association of deinstitutionalization with psychiatric hospitals, as he mentions in his book The Protest Psychosis that “Deinstitutionalization is often associated with general psychiatric hospitals, but institutions that housed the criminally insane felt its effects as well.”[2] Rather than building trust between law enforcement agencies and individuals with mental disorders, the attempted implementation of deinstitutionalization instead brought upon harsher sentences for low-level offenses. Deinstitutionalization was ultimately a major failure due to problems of funding limitations and a lack of adequate community-based care services, resulting in further perpetuation of stigmatization and policing of individuals with mental disorders under the criminal justice system.
In the field of policing on the topic of the history of community-based care and policing, intellectuals have made arguments that raise concerns about the unintended consequences of discharging individuals from mental institutions to communities that may lack adequate support services. Scholars such as Professor of Social Sciences Carol L. M. Caton, Associate Professor of History Benjamin Holtzmann, and journalist Alisa Roth all address the effects of deinstitutionalization on individuals with mental disorders as a whole population.[3] Specifically in Alisa Roth’s Insane: America’s Criminal Treatment of Mental Illness, she argues the importance of looking at both the histories of the criminal justice system and mental healthcare by presenting the question: “So if deinstitutionalization is not responsible for the current crisis of mental illness in jails and prisons, then what is?”[4] I am drawing upon Roth’s argument by focusing on individuals with psychotic and substance use disorders. Moreover, I also pinpoint the years of 1990 to 2005 as key years for the deinstitutionalization movement.
This paper argues that the deinstitutionalization movement actively contributed to the rise of homelessness during 1990 to 2005, since many individuals with psychotic and substance use disorders were released from mental institutions without adequate housing or available long-term care options. Additionally, deinstitutionalization also led to higher rates of incarceration for individuals with mental disorders, as jails and prisons became de-facto mental institutions. The first research questions I will target explore how former patients of mental institutions became criminalized, and the effects of gentrification and neoliberalism on the policing of individuals with mental disorders and the treatment of homelessness as a societal burden. I will then address how the defunding of psychiatric hospitals throughout the United States heightened attendant increases in prison populations throughout the 1990s to early 2000s, and why American jails and prisons become substitutes for mental institutions. Lastly, I will review community-based programs for mental healthcare, and how the importance of these models connect to the field of policing.
Regarding exploring the history of community-based care and policing, the first question that must be answered involves the criminalization of former patients of mental institutions and how individuals with mental disorders continued to experience extreme policing. During the early 1990s to early 2000s, assumptions that individuals with psychotic and substance use disorders were violent spread throughout American society, coinciding with a lack of a robust mental healthcare system. The December 1999 article by the Filipino Reporter presents Rudy Guiliani’s commentary of Nicole Barrett’s attack with a brick, in which he stated that:
The vast majority of mentally ill people are not violent and, with treatment, can have productive, peaceful, independent lives. Very few mentally ill people cause any danger to others. That’s a critically important point, because too many people are quick to paint the mentally ill with a broad brush.[5]
Attacks such as Nicole Barrett’s raised questions about whether there was a correlation between mental disorders and criminal behavior. Misconceptions surrounding psychotic and substance use disorders led to far-reaching consequences for those individuals with these said conditions. Marsha Zeesman’s 1992 documentary The Schizophrenias includes an interview with Janine, a psychiatric patient who describes the effects of stigma on her experiences with schizophrenia by stating that, “I’d get paranoid. I’d be afraid of people. What they have said to me because I thought I was afraid they’d condemn me, and I felt being ridiculed.”[6] Janine’s interview is just one example of the pervasive societal stigma that surrounds mental disorders, as prejudice against individuals with psychiatric conditions is a societal problem that continues to have pressing implications on the actions taken by law enforcement and policymakers. Associate Professor of History Melanie D. Newport directs attention to the prejudice against individuals with mental disorders by describing the popularization of electronic monitoring in jails and prisons, “Shackling offered a new mode of jailing that promised the capacity to control and manage people beyond jail walls.”[7]Former patients of large mental institutions were especially vulnerable to stigma and discrimination, as their behaviors and actions were often mishandled by law enforcement due to the lack of understanding towards mental disorders.
The 1990s simultaneously saw a significant increase in incarceration rates driven by the punitive approaches taken to drug policies with the “War on Drugs”, despite reports that a major metropolitan area such as New York City was considered “…the safest large city in America…”[8] Although the “War on Drugs” was initiated in the 1980s, this “legislative war” brought major transformations for policy responses towards drug offenders. A crucial example is the implementation of “zero-tolerance policing” strategies in the early 1990s by law enforcement agencies and policymakers as a response to rising crime rates. Established by Mayor Rudy Guiliani and Police Commissioner William Bratton in 1994, “zero-tolerance policing” would target suspicious individuals and arrest them for minor offenses such as loitering, drug possession, and disorderly conduct. “Zero-tolerance policing” was often accompanied by harsher sentencing laws, significantly punishing individuals that were struggling with addiction and in need of treatment in order to satisfy the desire to make cities throughout the United States appear “safe”. Incarceration worsened mental health and addiction issues, as the prison environment was ill-equipped to provide the necessary treatment and support. “Zero-tolerance policing” disproportionately affected African Americans with the association of being criminals, which created more challenges regarding reintegration into society upon release.
With the emergence of neoliberalism and its intersection with gentrification, the next crucial question to answer is: what have been the effects of gentrification and neoliberalism on the policing of individuals with mental disorders and treatment of homelessness as a societal burden? Throughout the 1980’s, neoliberal ideology advocated for deregulating industries, which ultimately had devastating consequences on housing for individuals with mental disorders, especially people of color. Gentrification became intertwined with the principles of neoliberal urban policy, as it continues to hold ramifications on the displacement of individuals unable to afford housing due to increasing property values and rent. The September 1991 New York Times article, “Shift in Feelings on the Homeless: Empathy Turns into Frustration,” ties these issues further by illustrating how homelessness became treated as a societal burden: “Now, in the second decade of widespread and obvious homelessness,”[9] wrote Isabel Wilkerson in the New York Times, “people are experiencing a kind of compassion fatigue, as Mayor Hancock of Berkeley, calls it.”[10] Reports such as Patricia Crowley’s targeted homelessness by stating that “I don’t think people have enough valid options to choose from. I suppose there may be some people who are wanderers by nature, but I truly don’t believe there are very many people who want to be homeless.”[11] Looking back towards the 1990s, neoliberalism and gentrification contributed heavily to the framing of homelessness as a problem that needed to be managed. As a result, the increased surveillance and policing that disproportionately affected individuals with mental disorders heightened scrutiny and potential criminalization within newly gentrified environments. In turn, the consequences gentrification brought upon American society perpetuated cycles of incarceration and homelessness, further marginalizing individuals with mental disorders and communities of color.
Furthermore, the defunding of social services such as mental healthcare through neoliberal governance brought upon one of the two most significant consequences of the deinstitutionalization movement: the increase of homelessness rates. E. Fuller Torrey’s July 1999 article “Deinstitutionalization Hasn’t Worked”, discusses the fallout of this increase, stating that “The images of these gravely ill citizens on our city landscapes are bleak reminders of the failure of deinstitutionalization.”[12] Community mental health centers, often underfunded and understaffed, struggled to meet the needs of individuals with mental disorders and led to a lack of continuity in care and support services. Furthermore, the dismantling of institutional support systems meant that many individuals with mental disorders were put into a society that had limited access to stable housing, employment opportunities, and supportive social networks. Consequently, individuals with mental disorders coalesced into the homelessness population, which produced challenges in management homelessness, as the “By No Means…Homeless Perspectives: A News and Opinion Monthly” periodical includes a piece that mentions:
The voluntary giving sector is pretty well burned out, particularly in the religious community. People will get involved in a church soup kitchen or a pantry and you know, when they get into this they think it is just a temporary thing, isn’t it nice but it has been temporary for more than a dozen years and the problem is not going away.[13]
Traditional homeless shelters were often ill-equipped to address the needs of individuals with mental disorders and the criminalization of homelessness further exacerbated these challenges by heightening the risk of involvement with the criminal justice system. The intersection of race, poverty, and mental disorders, created additional barriers for individuals from marginalized communities in accessing the resources necessary for addressing homelessness and mental health challenges. Disparities in housing services and mental healthcare contributed to further marginalization, as African Americans and other communities of color were pushed into jails and prisons rather than receiving mental health support.
The closure of psychiatric hospitals and the limited availability of mental health resources have left law enforcement and correctional facilities to manage individuals experiencing mental health crises. Correctional facilities are not designed to provide comprehensive mental healthcare, yet they have become treatment facility centers for many individuals, detracting from the intended purpose of incarceration as a means of punishment and rehabilitation for what our modern legal system deems as “criminal” behavior. The Bureau of Justice Special Report “Mental Health Treatment in State Prisons, 2000” brings attention to the fact that “Community-based facilities, in which at least 50% of the inmates regularly depart unaccompanied, were less likely to report mental health screening (47%), assessment (30%), and therapy/counseling (35%).”[14] The Bureau of Justice Special Report also explains that “In contrast, most inmates receiving 24-hour mental health care (80%) were receiving that care in a specialized confinement facility.”[15] Receiving mental health care in California’s prisons involves the removal from one’s cell, subsequently subjected to being handcuffed, shackled and searched, and then placed in a “treatment module” for the duration of the treatment session.[16] These statistics and practices are evidence that despite that part of the deinstitutionalization movement’s goals was to shift away from relying on mental institutions as treatment facilities, the role of mental institutions had instead transferred over to prisons and jails as the new asylums.
Rikers Island was just one of many prisons that gained a reputation of being one of the largest mental institutions in the country. Part of Graham Rayman’s Rikers: An Oral History presents the mental health issues faced by the individuals detained in Rikers. A prisoner of Rikers since 1990, Eddie Rosario emphasizes that “What happens is that those mental health needs overwhelm the jailers. I saw abuse from guards who didn’t have the skill set to deal with someone hearing voices.”[17] The conditions within the facilities in Rikers, including violence, inadequate mental health treatment, and prolonged isolation periods, have raised serious concerns about the intersection of the criminal justice system and mental healthcare. The dependence on jails and prisons as the new option for mental institutions continues to reinforce the criminalization of mental disorders and underscores the necessity for community-based alternatives to mental healthcare. The correspondence “Letter to Prisoners and Prison Advocates” summarizes the conditions that were reported by over twenty prisoners in Ohio State Penitentiary, and takes into consideration that “this place is practicing actions that have no security purpose, and their only purpose is meant to degrade and embarrass and shame the inmate.”[18] Jails and prisons serving as mental institutions also makes treatment impossible for individuals with mental disorders, resulting in susceptibility to ongoing violence. Moreover, incarcerating individuals holds a financial burden, as this process diverts funding for resources from mental health treatment and support services. Raising public awareness about the intersection of the criminal justice system and mental healthcare can produce greater support for alternative approaches to addressing mental health crises.
Although the deinstitutionalization movement failed partly due to a lack of planning for alternative services and facilities for mental healthcare, the importance of establishing proper funding for community-based care cannot be underscored. As a major program formed by former patients of Kings Park Psychiatric Hospital, Hands Across Long Island (HALI) has emerged as one of many programs in Suffolk County that were facilitated by a peer-run organization. Although HALI and other community-based programs throughout the United States continue to receive inadequate funding, these programs would provide individuals with mental disorders necessary resources in order to be able to reintegrate into society. Ellen Healion, the executive director of HALI, recounts that being confined in a psychiatric hospital created a harmful perception of “I was never going to have ‘me’ back.”[19] Hospitalization for Healion and other individuals with mental disorders had a dehumanizing aspect: being placed into a psychiatric hospital was a form of policing that robbed patients of their autonomy. Available alternatives to mental institutions became a way for individuals with mental disorders to take power back and for Healion, the closing of Kings Park made her realize that “it was good to see the kinds of services and programs that can exist for people today outside the mental hospital.”[20] Unlike traditional mental institutions, community-based care models are beneficial in providing individuals with mental disorders the means to maintain stable relationships and promote overall well-being. Moreover, promoting the use of community-based care through adequate funding and resources empowers those with a mental health-related condition to take ownership of their care processes.
Additionally, it is crucial that individuals with mental disorders are guaranteed their civil rights and opportunities. As a major figure behind efforts in community-based mental healthcare for New Jersey, Governor Codey recounts his involvement with Greystone Psychiatric Hospital. He related an incident he witnessed in July 2005 of the hospital lacking air conditioning, and argued that “and you would not go to see your loved one in a general hospital without air conditining, but because these people were mentally ill that is ok…It is sad that in the year of 2005, someone in a mental institution as a mental patient would not have air conditioning.”[21] Accounts such as Richard Codey’s are reminders of the abuse and neglect that were rampant, but not properly brought to public awareness in psychiatric hospitals such as Greystone Park. While Greystone Park closed in 2008 and was rebuilt, the continued operations of large mental hospitals in the early 2000s raised ethical concerns about the neglected humanity of patients. These issues sparked further development with the definition of patient rights: 1990 to 2005 also became a pivotal moment in pushing for the expectation of proper mental healthcare in the midst of the disaster of deinstitutionalization. Being a part of the Department of Psychiatric Rehabilitation and Counseling Professions in Rutgers University, Peter Basto referred to the Program of Assertive Community Treatment (PACT), which essentially “kept people from coming back into the hospitals.”[22] Maintaining the mental health education that programs like PACT provide would target both the stigmatization and criminalization that has been attached to the policing of individuals with psychotic and substance use disorders.
Despite the advancements made towards community-based alternatives to mental health care, mental illness increasingly became perceived as a public safety issue rather than a health concern. Law enforcement officers began to assume the role of first responders to incidents involving individuals in mental health crises, and their approach to these situations had a significant impact on the outcomes of these individuals. The intersection of community-based care for individuals with mental disorders and policing methods brought about new issues in addressing the handling of mental health crises. The prison environment, with its rigid structure and lack of understanding of mental health-related issues, further contributed to the dehumanization and criminalization of individuals with mental disorders. This dehumanization violated the rights and dignity of individuals with said conditions, hindering prospects for rehabilitation. Mental health organizations brought awareness to the plight of incarcerated individuals with mental disorders, highlighting the need for systemic reforms and improved mental health care. In addition, court rulings brought about changes in the treatment of individuals with mental disorders, leading to the implementation of mental health courts and specialized treatment facilities. Former state trooper Denise Kindschi Gosselin emphasizes in her book Crime and Mental Disorders: The Criminal Justice Response that mental health courts are extremely valuable in their attempt to reduce incarceration rates for individuals with mental disorders by “linking them to the mental health services and support programs that might have prevented their arrest in the first place.”[23] These efforts were made in response to the dehumanization of individuals with mental disorders within the prison system.
Collaboration between mental health professionals and law enforcement became increasingly common, with the recognition that an approach to policing that would combine specialties was essential in addressing the needs of individuals with mental disorders. In addition, the 1990s to early 2000s period saw a shift in community policing practices: traditional law enforcement methods were reevaluated and a growing emphasis on community engagement was produced as a result. The Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report on community policing reported that “From 1997 to 1999, the percentage of local police departments with community policing officers nearly doubled from 34% to 64% (table 2).”[24]
The report also presents the following information regarding increases in community policing:
These nationwide increases in the number of departments using community policing officers and in the proportion of sworn personnel designated as community policing officers have been accompanied by the continued prevalence of community-oriented policies, programs, and activities.[26]
The increased implementation of community policing from 1997 to 1999 throughout United States police departments enhanced the legitimacy of law enforcement in the eyes of the public, yet law enforcement officers faced challenges in identifying and responding to mental health crises. Despite these challenges, there were successes in the intersection of community-based care and policing with the reduction in the use of force and arrests involving individuals with mental disorders. The 2002 Laura’s Law became a landmark piece of legislation that would allow for court-ordered assisted outpatient treatment, resulting in “an 83% decline in arrests, an 87% decline in incarcerations, a 74% reduction in homelessness, and a 77% reduction in hospitalizations.”[27] The intersection of community-based care for individuals with mental disorders and community-based policing has had lasting implications for current and future practices in both the fields of mental health care and law enforcement.
To conclude, the period of 1990 to 2005 reflected a period of pivotal transformations in the approaches to supporting individuals with psychotic and substance use disorders within American society. Despite the fact that deinstitutionalization failed as a movement in terms of its goals, the consequences of homelessness and incarceration that were exacerbated by efforts related to deinstitutionalization continue to perpetuate the stigmatization and criminalization of individuals with mental disorders. Amongst both mental health professionals and law enforcement agencies, the intellectual discourse that surrounds community-based care and policing tactics continues to grapple with concerns of stigma, discrimination, and patients’ rights. There is no doubt that progress had been made during 1990-2005, yet this intellectual history underscores the ongoing need for collaboration to ensure that approaches to mental health care and policing are responsive to the ever-changing needs of individuals with mental disorders, as well as within the broader communities in which they reside.
1Stephen Allen White, interviewed by Lucy Winer, director, Kings Park: Stories From an American Mental Institution, Wildlight Productions, 2012: 1:34:55, Accessed 15 April 2024, https://search.library.stonybrook.edu/permalink/01SUNY_STB/1m9tbf5/alma990017030040204856.
2Jonathan Metzl, The Protest Psychosis: How Schizophrenia Became a Black Disease, (Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 2010), 134.
3Carol L. M. Caton, The Open Door: Homelessness and Severe Mental Illness in the Era of Community Treatment, (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017); Benjamin Holtzman, “‘Shelter is Only a First Step’: Housing the Homeless in 1980s New York City,”Journal of Social History, Vol. 52, Issue No. 3, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019: 166–184, https://doi.org/10.1093/jsh/shx042; and Alisa Roth, Insane: America’s Criminal Treatment of Mental Illness, (New York, NY: Basic Books, 2018).
4Roth, “The Asylum Fallacy”, in Insane: America’s Criminal Treatment of the Mentally Ill, 89.
5Rudy Giuliani, “THE MAYOR’S CORNER: Despite Random Violence, NYC Still a Safe City,” Filipino Reporter, 2 Dec 1999: 24.
6Marsha Zessman, director, The Schizophrenias, District of Columbia: Annenberg Learner, 1992: 06:05, https://video-alexanderstreet-com.proxy.library.stonybrook.edu/watch/the-schizophrenias.
7Melanie D. Newport, This Is My Jail: Local Politics and the Rise of Mass Incarceration, Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2023, 181.
8Giuliani, “THE MAYOR’S CORNER: Despite Random Violence, NYC Still a Safe City”: 524.
9Isabel Wilkerson, “Shift in Feelings on the Homeless: Empathy Turns into Frustration: A Change in Feelings on Homelessness,” New York Times, 2 September 1991.
10Wilkerson, “Shift in Feelings on the Homeless: Empathy Turns into Frustration: A Change in Feelings on Homelessness,” 2 September 1991.
11Patricia Crowley, “Ending Homelessness As We Know It,” U.S. Catholic, February 2004: 27.
12E. Fuller Torrey, “Deinstitutionalization Hasn’t Worked: ‘We Have Lost Effectively 93 Percent of Our State Psychiatric Hospital Beds Since 1955,’” Washington Post, 9 July 1999: A29.
13Sandy J. Weiner et al, “By No Means…Homeless Perspectives: A News and Opinion Monthly,” Freedom Archives, October 1991: 5-6.
14Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Reports, “Mental Health Treatment in State Prisons, 2000,” Bureau of Justice Statistics, July 2001, https://statistical-proquest-com.proxy.library.stonybrook.edu/statisticalinsight/result/pqpresultpage.previewtitle?docType=PQSI&titleUri=%2Fcontent%2F2001%2F6066-19.119.xml&accountid=14172, (Accessed 15 April 2024): 1.
15Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Reports, “Mental Health Treatment in State Prisons, 2000,” 4.
16Laura Magnani, “Buried Alive: Long-Term Isolation in California’s Youth and Adult Prisons,” Freedom Archives, May 2008: 14.
17Graham A. Rayman and Reuven Blau, Rikers: An Oral History, (New York, NY: Random House, 2023), 113.
18Staughton and Alice Lynd, “Letter to Prisoners and Prison Advocates,” Freedom Archives, 27 July 1998: 8.
19Ellen Healion, interviewed by Lucy Winer, director, Kings Park: Stories From an American Mental Institution: 1:28:27, https://search.library.stonybrook.edu/permalink/01SUNY_STB/1m9tbf5/alma990017030040204856.
20Ellen Healion, Kings Park: Stories From an American Mental Institution: 1: 28: 47.
21Governor Richard Codey, interviewed by Stephanie Kip and Robert Kirkbride, “Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital (1876-2008) Oral History Project,”: 31:58, https://www.greystoneoralhistory.com/. (Accessed 15 April 2024).
22Peter Basto, interviewed by Stephanie Kip and Robert Kirkbride, “Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital (1876-2008) Oral History Project,”: 31:58, https://www.greystoneoralhistory.com/. (Accessed 15 April 2024).
23Denise Kindschi Gosselin, Crime and Mental Disorders: The Criminal Justice Response, St. Paul, MN: West Academic Publishing, 2017, 99.
24Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Reports, “Community Policing in Local Police Departments, 1997 and 1999,” Bureau of Justice Statistics, February 2001, https://statistical-proquest-com.proxy.library.stonybrook.edu/statisticalinsight/result/pqpresultpage.previewtitle?docType=PQSI&titleUri=%2Fcontent%2F2001%2F6066-19.116.xml&accountid=14172. (Accessed 15 April 2024): 2.
25Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Reports: 2.
26Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Reports, “Community Policing in Local Police Departments, 1997 and 1999,” Bureau of Justice Statistics: 5.
27Carla Jacobs, “Law and Disorders: Untreated, Some Mentally Ill People Pose a Deadly Risk. Laura’s Law Could Help, but Only Two Countries Participate,” Los Angeles Times, 4 March 2010.
Bibliography
Bureau of Justice Statistics
Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Reports. “Community Policing in Local Police Departments, 1997 and 1999.” Bureau of Justice Statistics, February 2001. https://statistical-proquest-com.proxy.library.stonybrook.edu/statisticalinsight/result/pqpresultpage.previewtitle?docType=PQSI&titleUri=%2Fcontent%2F2001%2F6066-19.116.xml&accountid=14172. (Accessed 15 April 2024).
Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Reports. “Mental Health Treatment in State Prisons, 2000.” Bureau of Justice Statistics, July 2001. https://statistical-proquest-com.proxy.library.stonybrook.edu/statisticalinsight/result/pqpresultpage.previewtitle?docType=PQSI&titleUri=%2Fcontent%2F2001%2F6066-19.119.xml&accountid=14172. (Accessed 15 April 2024).
Newspapers
Crowley, Patricia. “Ending Homelessness As We Know It.” U.S. Catholic, February 2004: 24-28.
Giuliani, Rudy. “THE MAYOR’S CORNER: Despite Random Violence, NYC Still a Safe City.” Filipino Reporter, 2 Dec 1999.
Jacobs, Carla. “Law and Disorders: Untreated, Some Mentally Ill People Pose a Deadly Risk. Laura’s Law Could Help, but Only Two Countries Participate.” Los Angeles Times, 4 March 2010.
Magnani, Laura. “Buried Alive: Long-Term Isolation in California’s Youth and Adult Prisons.” Freedom Archives, May 2008.
Staughton and Alice Lynd. “Letter to Prisoners and Prison Advocates.” Freedom Archives, 27 July 1998.
Torrey, Fuller E. “Deinstitutionalization Hasn’t Worked: ‘We Have Lost Effectively 93 Percent of Our State Psychiatric Hospital Beds Since 1955.’” Washington Post, 9 July 1999: A29.
Weiner, Sandy J., Walter Carson, Cy Weinberg, Patricia Lyden and Walter Collins. “By No Means…Homeless Perspectives: A News and Opinion Monthly.” Freedom Archives, October 1991.
Wilkerson, Isabel. “Shift in Feelings on the Homeless: Empathy Turns into Frustration: A Change in Feelings on Homelessness.” New York Times, 2 September 1991.
Oral Histories
Kip, Stephanie and Robert Kirkbride. “Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital (1876-2008) Oral History Project.” https://www.greystoneoralhistory.com/. (Accessed 15 April 2024).
Rayman, Graham A. and Reuven Blau. Rikers: An Oral History. 1st ed. New York, NY: Random House, 2023.
Books and Articles
Barnard, Alex V. Conservatorship: Inside California’s System of Coercion and Care for Mental Illness. New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 2023.
Caton, Carol L. M. The Open Door: Homelessness and Severe Mental Illness in the Era of Community Treatment. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017.
Gosselin, Denise Kindschi. Crime and Mental Disorders: The Criminal Justice Response. St. Paul, MN: West Academic Publishing, 2017.
Benjamin Holtzman. “‘Shelter is Only a First Step’: Housing the Homeless in 1980s New York City.”Journal of Social History. Vol. 52, Issue No. 3, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019: 166–184. https://doi.org/10.1093/jsh/shx042.
Holtzmann, Benjamin. The Long Crisis: New York City and the Path to Neoliberalism. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021
Metzl, Jonathan. The Protest Psychosis: How Schizophrenia Became a Black Disease. Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 2010.
Newport, Melanie D. This Is My Jail: Local Politics and the Rise of Mass Incarceration. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2023.
Phillips-Fein, Kim. Fear City: New York’s Fiscal Crisis and the Rise of Austerity Politics. 1st ed. New York, NY: Metropolitan Books, 2017.
Pollack, Harold A. and Keith Humphreys. “Reducing Violent Incidents Between Police Officers and People with Psychiatric or Substance Use Disorders.”Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 2020. DOI: 10.1177/0002716219897057.
Roth, Alisa. Insane: America’s Criminal Treatment of Mental Illness. 1st ed. New York, NY: Basic Books, 2018
Documentaries
Winer, Lucy, director. Kings Park: Stories From an American Mental Institution. Wildlight Productions, 2012. https://search.library.stonybrook.edu/permalink/01SUNY_STB/1m9tbf5/alma990017030040204856.
Zeesman, Marsha, director. The Schizophrenias. District of Columbia: Annenberg Learner, 1992. https://video-alexanderstreet-com.proxy.library.stonybrook.edu/watch/the-schizophrenias.