Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Family advocacy and the mental health system: The recent rise of the alliance for the mentally ill

  • Articles
  • Published:
Psychiatric Quarterly Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The family consumer movement arose as a response to deinstitutionalization and the removal of stigma from parents of mental health clients. In many states the families are a dynamic force in mental health policymaking. If mental health professionals are to collaborate in support and advocacy programs, they should be aware of the origins and goals of the movement. Through their national organization (AMI), families advocate a biological view of mental illness causation and increased power for the mental health system. If the system is unable to meet parent expectations, it is likely that families will place themselves in competition with existing agencies for available resources.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Durman EC: The role of self-help in service provision. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science 12:433–443, 1976.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Dumont MP: Self-help treatment programs: An overview. American Journal of Psychiatry 131:631–635, 1974.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Caplan G: Support systems and community mental health. New York: Behavioral Publications, 1974.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Levy LH: Self-help groups: Types and psychological processes. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science 12:310–322, 1976.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Tracy GS, Gussow Z: Self-help health groups: A grass-roots response to a need for services. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science 12:381–396, 1976.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Barish H: Self-help groups. Encyclopedia of social work, Vol. 2, No. 16. New York: National Association of Social Workers, pp. 1163–1169, 1971.

    Google Scholar 

  7. Lamb HR, Hoffman A, Hoffman F, et al. Families of schizophrenics: A movement in jeopardy. Hospital and Community Psychiatry 37:353–357, 1986.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Rappaport J: Community psychology. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1977.

    Google Scholar 

  9. Talbott JA: (Ed.). The chronic patient: Problems, solutions, and recommendations for a public policy. Washington, D.C., American Psychiatric Association, 1978.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Lamb HR, & Oliphant E: Schizophrenia through the eyes of families. Hospital and Community Psychiatry 29:803–806, 1978.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Minkoff K: A map of chronic patients, in The Chronic Mental Patient. Edited by Talbott J, Washington, D.C.: American Psychiatric Association, 1979.

    Google Scholar 

  12. Dincin J, Selleck V, & Streicker S. Restructuring parental attitudes. Schizophrenia Bulletin 4:597–608, 1978.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Doll W: Family coping with the mentally ill: An unanticipated problem of deinstitutionalization. Hospital and Community Psychiatry 27:183–185, 1976.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Potasznick H., & Nelson G: Stress and social support: The burden experienced by the family of a mentally ill person. American Journal of Community Psychology 12:589–607, 1984.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Creer C & Wing J: Schizophrenia at home. London: Institute of Psychiatry, 1974.

    Google Scholar 

  16. Harding J: Survey of the Utah Alliance for the Mentally Ill. Unpublished research paper. Utah Alliance for the Mentally Ill, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1985.

    Google Scholar 

  17. Raguse NA: The use of parent life history as an aid in the diagnosis of bipolar affective disorder. Unpublished M.A. Thesis, California State University, Sacramento, 1986.

    Google Scholar 

  18. Smith DH, & Pillemer K: Self-help groups as social movement organizations. Research in Social Movements, Conflicts and Change 5:203–233, 1983.

    Google Scholar 

  19. Sommer R, Williams P, & Williams WA: Self-survey of family organization. Psychiatric Quarterly 56:476–285, 1984.

    Google Scholar 

  20. Williams P, Williams WA, Sommer R., et al. California Alliance for the Mentally Ill (CAMI): Survey results. Hospital and Community Psychiatry 37:253–255, 1986.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Laing RD: The divided self. New York: Pantheon, 1969.

    Google Scholar 

  22. Scheff TJ: Being mentally ill, 2nd ed. New York: Aldine, 1984.

    Google Scholar 

  23. Szasz, TS: The manufacture of madness. New York: Harper and Row, 1970.

    Google Scholar 

  24. Jennings A, Jennings C, Sommer R, et al: A parents' survey of problems faced by mentally ill daughters. Hospital and Community Psychiatry 38:668–670, 1987.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Sommer R: Sons and daughters of parents in a support organization. Psychiatric Quarterly 58:57–65, 1986–87.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Rappaport J: In praise of paradox: A social policy of empowerment over prevention. Journal of Community Psychology 9:1–25, 1981.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Levy LH: Self-help groups viewed by mental health professionals: A survey and comments. American Journal of Community Psychology 6:305–313, 1978.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Castaneda D, & Sommer R: Mental health professionals' attitudes towards the family's role in care of the mentally ill. Hospital and Community Psychiatry 40:1195–1197, 1989.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Deneke C: How professionals view self-help, in Rediscovering self-help. Edited by Pancoast DL, Parker P, & Froland C. Beverly Hills, CA. Sage Publications, pp. 125–142, 1983.

    Google Scholar 

  30. Kleiman MA, Mantell JE, & Alexander LS: Collaboration and its discontents: The perils of partnership, Journal of Applied Behavioral Science 12:403–409, 1976.

    Google Scholar 

  31. Lieberman MA, & Borman LD: Self-help and social research. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science 12:455–463, 1976.

    Google Scholar 

  32. Branckaerts J, Kuypers E, & van den Meersche J: Similes: Zelfhulgroepen in de Geestelijke Gezondheidszorg. Heverlee: Groeneweg, 1981.

    Google Scholar 

  33. Branckaerts J: Birth of the movement, in Rediscovering Self-Help. Edited by Pancoast DL, Parker DL, & Froland C. Beverly Hills, CA.: Sage Publications, pp. 143–158. 1983.

    Google Scholar 

  34. Behrendt JU, Deneke C, & Schorsch EM: Hindernisse in der Zusammenarbeit zwischen professionellen Helfern und Selbsthilfegruppen, in Gemeinsam Sind Wir Starker. Selbsthilfegruppen und Gesundheit. Edited by Kickbusch I & Trojan A. Frankfurt/Main: Fischer Alternativ, 1981.

    Google Scholar 

  35. Sommer R, & Osmond H: The schizophrenic no-society. Psychiatry 25:244–255, 1962.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  36. Sommer R, & Osmond H: The schizophrenic no-society revisited. Psychiatry 47:181–191, 1984.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  37. Vine P: Families in pain. New York: Pantheon, 1982.

    Google Scholar 

  38. Wasow M: Coping with schizophrenia. Palo Alto, CA.: Science and Behavior Books, 1982.

    Google Scholar 

  39. Walsh M: Schizophrenia. New York: William Morrow, 1985.

    Google Scholar 

  40. Morrison JR: Your brother's keeper. Chicago: Nelson-Hall, 1981.

    Google Scholar 

  41. Park CC: You are not alone. Boston: Little, Brown, 1976.

    Google Scholar 

  42. Torrey EF: Surviving schizophrenia: A family manual. New York: Harper and Row, 1983.

    Google Scholar 

  43. Caplan G, & Killilea M (Eds.): Support systems and mutual help. New York: Grune and Stratton, 1976.

    Google Scholar 

  44. Cohen S, & Syme SL (Eds.): Social support and health. New York: Academic Press, 1985.

    Google Scholar 

  45. Gartner A, & Riessman F: Self-help in the human services. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1977.

    Google Scholar 

  46. Gartner A, & Reissman F (Eds.): The self-help revolution. New York: Human Sciences Press, 1984.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Psychology Department, University of California, 95616, Davis, CA

    Robert Sommer Ph.D.

Authors
  1. Robert Sommer Ph.D.
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Sommer, R. Family advocacy and the mental health system: The recent rise of the alliance for the mentally ill. Psych Quart 61, 205–221 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01064970

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01064970

Keywords

Search

Navigation