Transition from locked doors to community living : social work involvement with persons having mental health problems

Abstract

Present day psychiatric institutions are the product of a long process of development from the Medieval asylums to the asylums of the 17th and 18th centuries... the madhouses or "looney bins", as they were popularly called, to the psychiatric institutions of the 20th century and community set-up. The advent of psychotropic drugs, the rise of the human rights movements and worldwide public awareness were influential in bringing about the change. In Malta the Mental Health Act 1976 was a stepping stone in the direction that would bring about respect and dignity to these individuals. Social work made its impact on their treatment and rehabilitation. Today the trend is for the mentally ill to be reintegrated and cared for in the community. After-care services assist in their resocialisation. Specialised transitional facilities, for people who no longer need to be hospitalised, provide opportunities for re-establishing work, family and social relationships on a gradual basis under sheltered conditions. This long essay delves into the past and looks into the present in order to see how mentally ill persons were and are treated by society in Malta and elsewhere. Their plight, treatment and endeavours to bring about a change in order to provide them with a better quality of life as addressed by social work are explored herein. Finally recommendations are put for the way forward.