Deinstitutionalization and social policy: historical perspectives and present dilemmas.

The influence of social and economic forces on the placement and treatment of the chronically mentally ill is traced historically. This review suggests that minorities and the poor, who have in the past suffered the worst institutional care, will be most at risk in the community during the present era of cutbacks in social services. Deinstitutionalization, in making claims on resources that the larger community is reluctant to grant, seen as jeopardizing needed incremental reforms.