Prisons and Mental Institutions Issue
May 26 2009 19:21
Prisons and mental institutions. Do they exist in Anarcho-Syndicalism? If they do - how they are managed? If they don't - how is manged damaging behavior?
Jul 14 2009 01:28
#2
I personally dont necessarily see the difference between a mental institution and a hospital. Both exist to heal people.
Oct 23 2009 16:35
#3
BRed wrote:
I personally dont necessarily see the difference between a mental institution and a hospital. Both exist to heal people.
In theory yes but in practice they often serve as places to keep our "insane" population so that the rest of the community can ignore them. My mom was ordered into such an institution by the state for a while. We asked what kind of counciling should would receive and were told "We don't really do that here". I think we need to return the focus of such institutions to actual healing and interpersonal council, as opposed to drug regimens and shock therapy.
Oct 24 2009 08:10
#4
killyerlandlords wrote:
BRed wrote:
I personally dont necessarily see the difference between a mental institution and a hospital. Both exist to heal people.In theory yes but in practice they often serve as places to keep our "insane" population so that the rest of the community can ignore them. My mom was ordered into such an institution by the state for a while. We asked what kind of counciling should would receive and were told "We don't really do that here". I think we need to return the focus of such institutions to actual healing and interpersonal council, as opposed to drug regimens and shock therapy.
I'd disagree that that was their original focus. I think healing was something that was introduced later on and isn't always put into practise with bad results for people. If you're interested in mental health there have been some long discussions on libcom in the past that you my be interested in having a look at.
Oct 24 2009 15:58
#5
Are you referring to old school asylums where the "infirm" were locked away and subjected to experimentation in the name of healing? In the same way that there are some good therapists out there who want to help people (my mom also happens to be a behavioral psychologist, maybe that contributed to her breakdown, I can only speculate) there are many others in it to throw drugs at people for profit there are those who seek to turn a profit off of running these "hospitals".
I had a shrink once tell me when I was 16 "You don't have manic depression and you don't have clinical depression. The only reason I have you on medication is to appease your parents and if you tell them I said this I'll deny it." That is an exact quote, not a paraphrase. A moment I will never forget. The pills were 65 bucks a bottle, needless to say I stopped taking them that day.
Nov 4 2009 10:34
#6
The causes of 'mental illness' are many and often multi-factorial. Some are largely biological in origin, others seem to be an intersection of a genetic pre-dispostion familial, social and organic factors.
there's quite a few threads on the topic of prisons
http://libcom.org/search/node/prisons
they don't pertain so much to 'mental institutions' though, just prisons, crime and anti-social behavior generally