A framework for understanding participation in community mental health services.

Citizen participation has been associated with confusing rhetoric and conflicting philosophical rationales, both in its long history in America and in the community mental health movement. While CMHCs have emphasized participation less than many other social programs begun in the 1960s, participatory roles have evolved. Some of the confusion surrounding this complex topic can be clarified by distinguishing three dimensions of participation--power, participants and program functions. Conflicting societal trends have the future of participation in the community mental health movement uncertain.