Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Community Psychological Practice and a Note on Rehabilitation in Corrections

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Psychotherapy and the Social Clinic in the United States

  • 179 Accesses

Abstract

Community psychological practice fails but largely because funds are inadequate to sustain its programs, notably housing, and supportive care. The resistance to adequate funding has not been surmounted by strategies of political activism. The organization of vulnerable, needy, and poorer people for political power is very unlikely to succeed. The list of similar attempts contains a greater number of heroic tragedies and tyrannies than successes. There is no successful discipline of political, social, or psychological liberation.

Community psychological practice and rehabilitation in corrections have failed to achieve their goals for two principal reasons. The wrong interventions are pursued and the American public is unwilling to allocate appropriate resources. The provision of decent community care, notably for offenders as well as patients with chronic mental and emotional disorders is very expensive. The social clinic is much less expensive. Neglect is even cheaper.

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

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 79.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 99.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 99.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    Kirk et al. (2013) provide a far bleaker interpretation of the training in community living experiment. They question its outcomes, design, and use of coercion. To the extent to which their analysis is correct, the problem of providing care for the chronically mentally ill is that much more problematic and the community of mental health practitioners and scholars that much more incapable of addressing their defining problems. Also see, Gomory (unpublished).

  2. 2.

    The data in the study’s tables often conflict with the data in write-ups, a point of sloppiness or deceit that raises additional questions about the credibility of the research.

  3. 3.

    Nelson et al.’s (2014) Community Psychology and Community Mental Health: Towards Transformative Change is a fine example of the genre. To demonstrate the success of mass mobilization, Levine and Perkins (1997) point to school desegregation but fail to acknowledge the resegregation of the public school system, the rise of public funding for private education, and increasingly homogeneous living patterns. Dalton et al. (2001) are confident community organization and empowerment are successful and ignore the most glaring obstacle to their success: Poor neighborhoods and communities—the objects of community organization and empowerment efforts—lack the resources or political strength to address their problems. Community organization as outreach—agricultural extension workers, public health nurses—has demonstrated some success. However, if the goal is political and social change through mass mobilization, it has been a consistent failure in the United States and internationally. Kagan et al. (2011) build an argument for “critical” community psychology—the authors’ injunction to “Think!”—that attributes to weak research and professional agency the glow of scientific coherence while assuming that political decision making was grounded in the rational.

  4. 4.

    Much of the research concerning the effectiveness of psychopharmacology is ambiguous and misleading. As Angell noted, the Federal Drug Administration must certify a medication as safe and effective before it can be sold. However, certification requires only two demonstrations of effectiveness among what could be a much larger number of randomized controlled trials. Not surprisingly, positive findings are widely publicized; negative findings are kept in file drawers. Rush et al. (2006) offer an example of the common gaming of research in psychiatry—the complicity of government, industry, and professional practice sustained by popular belief. The experiment explores whether switching antidepressants is effective after the first drug fails. Patients with a nonpsychotic major depressive disorder who failed to respond to Citalopram were randomized to one of four groups to receive one of four different antidepressant medications. Remission rates were between 18 and 25% and the authors declare success. However, the research did not include a placebo control and thus the outcomes can be attributed to natural remission, in this case, the seasonality of depression. There was no credible finding that the remission was due to the new drugs. The authors of the study list extensive commercial ties to the pharmaceutical industry. The research was published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

  5. 5.

    The literature concerning the effectiveness of clinical rehabilitation programs in reducing criminal recidivism is too vast be summarized in a few pages. It deserves a multi-volume treatment. The present effort to characterize the credibility of the research attempts a few tentative conclusions concerning the credibility of the evidence and its broader implications for social policy. As in previous chapters, this discussion relies on the best meta-analyses and the most credible primary research. The current process is necessarily less intense than previous discussions and fewer examples are provided. Still, a curious challenge to the research is not easily dispelled. The consistently but by no means universally reported positive effects on recidivism may be better explained by nonclinical factors associated with treatment than by treatment itself.

  6. 6.

    For a more detailed discussion of the controversy, see Epstein (1993).

References

  • Alexander, J. F., & Parsons, B. V. (1973). Short-Term Behavioral Intervention with Delinquent Families: Impact on Family Process and Recidivism. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 81, 219–225. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0034537.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Andersen, S. N., & Skardhamar, T. (2017). Pick a Number: Mapping Recidivism Measures and Their Consequences. Crime & Delinquency, 63, 613–635. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011128715570629.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Andrews, D. A., Zinger, I., Hoge, R. D., Bonta, J., Gendreau, P., & Cullen, F. T. (1990). Does Correctional Treatment Work? A Clinically Relevant and Psychologically Informed Meta-Analysis. Criminology, 28, 369–404. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-9125.1990.tb01330.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Angell, M. (2011a, July 14). The Illusions of Psychiatry. The New York Review of Books, 58, 20.

    Google Scholar 

  • Angell, M. (2011b, June 23). The Epidemic of Mental Illness: Why? The New York Review of Books, 58, 2–3.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barton, R. (1999). Psychosocial Rehabilitation Services in Community Support Systems: A Review of Outcomes and Policy Recommendations. Psychiatric Services, 50, 525–534. https://doi.org/10.1176/ps.50.4.525.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Battin, C., Bouvet, C., & Hatala, C. (2016). A Systematic Review of the Effectiveness of the Clubhouse Model. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, 39, 305–312.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beard, J. H., Propst, R. N., & Malamud, T. J. (1982). The Fountain House Model of Psychiatric Rehabilitation. Psychosocial Rehabilitation Journal, 5, 47–53.

    Google Scholar 

  • Becker, R. E. (2015). Policies and Consequences: How America and Psychiatry Took the Detour to Erewhon. Psychiatric Services, 66, 1097–1100. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.201400485.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Becker, R. E., & Greig, N. H. (2010, December 8). Lost in Translation: Neuropsychiatric Drug Development. Science Translational Medicine, 2(61), 1–7. http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/scitranslmed.3000446.

  • Benston, E. A. (2015). Housing Programs for Homeless Individuals with Mental Illness: Effects on Housing and Mental Health Outcomes. Psychiatric Services, 66(8), 806–816.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bryan, A. E., & Arkowitz, H. (2015). Meta-Analysis of the Effects of Peer-Administered Psychosocial Interventions on Symptoms of Depression. American Journal of Community Psychology, 55, 455–471. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10464-015-9718-y.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chamberlain, P., & Reid, J. B. (1998). Comparison of Two Community Alternatives to Incarceration for Chronic Juvenile Offenders. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 66, 624–633. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-006X.66.4.624.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cook, T. D., & Shadish, W. R., Jr. (1982). Meta-Evaluation: An Evaluation of the CMCH Congressionally-Mandated Evaluation System. In G. J. Stahler & W. R. Tash (Eds.), Innovative Approaches to Mental Health Evaluation (1st ed., pp. 221–253). New York, NY: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cullen, F. T., Pratt, T. C., Turanovic, J. J., & Butler, L. (2018). When Bad News Arrives: Project HOPE in a Post-Factual World. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 34, 13–34. https://doi.org/10.1177/1043986217750424.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dalton, J. H., Elias, M. J., & Wandersman, A. (2001). Community Psychology: Linking Individuals and Communities. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Thomson Learning.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eckman, T. A., et al. (1992). Technology for Training Schizophrenic Patients in Illness Self-Management: A Controlled Trial. American Journal of Psychiatry, 149, 1549–1555.

    Google Scholar 

  • Elliott, D. S., & Voss, H. L. (1968). Records Matching in Delinquency Research. Social Problems, 16(1), 120–123.

    Google Scholar 

  • Epstein, W. M. (2013). Empowerment as Ceremony. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Evans, M. E., Boothroyd, R. A., & Armstrong, M. I. (1997). Development and Implementation of an Experimental Study of the Effectiveness of Intensive In-Home Crisis Services for Children and Their Families. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 5, 93–105. https://doi.org/10.1177/106342669700500204.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Evans, M. E., Boothroyd, R. A., Armstrong, M. I., Greenbaum, P. E., Brown, E. C., & Kuppinger, A. D. (2003). An Experimental Study of the Effectiveness of Intensive In-Home Crisis Services for Children and Their Families: Program Outcomes. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 11, 92–102. https://doi.org/10.1177/106342660301100203.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fairweather, G. W. (1980). The Fairweather Lodge: A Twenty-Year Retrospective. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gendreau, P. (1980). Recidivism Measure Reconsidered. Canadian Journal of Criminology, 22. Retrieved from www.heinonline.com.

  • Gendreau, P., & Leipciger, M. (1978). Development of a Redivism Measure and Its Application in Ontario. Canadian Journal of Criminology, 20(1), 3–17.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gillig, P. M., & McQuistion, H. I. (2006). Clinical Guide to the Treatment of the Mentally Ill Homeless. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gomory, T. (unpublished). Tautology and Coercion. Unpublished manuscript on the Wisconsin Assertive Community Treatment Model.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenberg, G. A., & Rosenheck, R. A. (2010). Correlates of Past Homelessness in the National Epidemiological Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions. Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research, 37(4), 357–366.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grietens, H., Rink, J., & Hellinckx, W. (2003). Nonbehavioral Correlates of Juvenile Delinquency: Communications of Detained and Nondetained Young People About Social Limits. Journal of Adolescent Research, 18(1), 68–89.

    Google Scholar 

  • Griswold, D. B. (1978). A Comparison of Recidivism Measures. Journal of Criminal Justice, 6, 247–252. https://doi.org/10.1016/0047-2352(78)90006-5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grossman, J. B., & Tierney, J. P. (1998). Does Mentoring Work? An Impact Study of the Big Brothers Big Sisters Program. Evaluation Review, 22, 403–426. https://doi.org/10.1177/0193841X9802200304.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hartmann, W. E., St. Arnault, D. M., & Gone, J. P. (2018). A Return to the Clinic for Community Psychology: Lessons from a Clinical Ethnography in Urban American Indian Behavioral Health. American Journal of Community Psychology, 61, 62–75. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ajcp.12212.

  • Heller, K., Thompson, M. G., Trueba, P. E., Hogg, J. R., & Vlachos-Weber, I. (1991). Peer Support Telephone Dyads for Elderly Women: Was This the Wrong Intervention? American Journal of Community Psychology, 19, 53–74. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00942253.

  • Jackson, R. L. (2001). The Clubhouse Model: Empowering Applications of Theory to Generalist Practice. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kagan, C., Burton, M., Duckett, P., Lawthom, R., & Siddiquee, A. (2011). Critical Community Psychology. West Sussex, UK: BPS Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kennedy, L., & Xyrichis, A. (2017). Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Compared with Non-specialized Therapy for Alleviating the Effect of Auditory Hallucinations in People with Reoccurring Schizophrenia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Community Mental Health Journal, 53, 127–133. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-016-0030-6.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kirigin, K. A., Braukmann, C. J., Atwater, J. D., & Wolf, M. M. (1982). An Evaluation of Teaching-Family (Achievement Place) Group Homes for Juvenile Offenders. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 15(1), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1901/jaba.1982.15-1.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Kirk, S. A., Gomory, T., & Cohen, D. (2013). Mad Science. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Knight, C. A., & Alarie, R. M. (2017). Improving Mental Health in the Community: Outcome Evaluation of a Geriatric Mental Health Day Treatment Service. Clinical Gerontologist, 40, 77–87. https://doi.org/10.1080/07317115.2016.1263709.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • La Bonta, J., & Andrews, D. A. (2015). The Psychology of Criminal Conduct. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lab, S. P., & Whitehead, J. T. (1990). From ‘Nothing Works’ to ‘The Appropriate Works’: The Last Stop on the Search for the Secular Grail. Criminology, 28(3), 405–418.

    Google Scholar 

  • Larose, S., Boisclair-Chateauvert, G., De Wit, D. J., DuBois, D., Erdem, G., & Lipman, E. L. (2018). How Mentor Support Interacts with Mother and Teacher Support in Predicting Youth Academic Adjustment: An Investigation Among Youth Exposed to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada Programs. The Journal of Primary Prevention, 39, 205–228. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10935-018-0509-8.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lerman, P. (1975). Community Treatment and Social Control: A Critical Analysis of Juvenile Correctional Policy. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lerman, P. (1984). Child Welfare, the Private Sector and Community Based Corrections. Crime and Delinquency, 30, 5–38.

    Google Scholar 

  • Levine, M., & Perkins, D. V. (1997). Principles of Community Psychology: Perspectives and Applications (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lieber, J. A. (2006). Comparative Effectiveness of Antipsychotic Drugs: A Commentary on Cost Utility of the Latest Antipsychotic Drugs in Schizophrenia Study (CUtLASS 1) and Clinical Antipsychotic Trials of Intervention Effectiveness (CATIE). Archives of General Psychiatry, 63(10), 1069–1072.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lipman, E. L., DeWit, D., DuBois, D. L., Larose, S., & Erdem, G. (2018). Youth with Chronic Health Problems: How Do They Fare in Main-Stream Mentoring Programs. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 11, 92–102. https://doi.org/10.1177/106342660301100203.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lipsey, M. W., & Cullen, F. T. (2007). The Effectiveness of Correctional Rehabilitation: A Review of Systematic Reviews. The Annual Review of Law and Social Sciences, 3, 297–320. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.lawsocsci.3.081806.1128.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marder, S. R., et al. (1996). Two-Year Outcome of Social Skills Training and Group Psychotherapy for Outpatients with Schizophrenia. American Journal of Psychiatry, 153, 1585–1592.

    Google Scholar 

  • McKay, C., Nugent, K. L., Johnsen, M., Eaton, W. W., & Lidz, C. W. (2018). A Systematic Review of Evidence for the Clubhouse Model of Psychosocial Rehabilitation. Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research, 45, 28–47. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10488-016-0760-3.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Moller, M. D., & Murphy, M. F. (1997). The Three R’s Rehabilitation Program: A Prevention Approach for the Management of Relapse Symptoms Associated with Psychiatric Diagnosis. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, 20, 42–48. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0095365.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morgan, R. D., et al. (2012). Treating Offenders With Mental Illness: A Research Synthesis. Law and Human Behavior, 36(1), 37–50.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nelson, G., Kloos, B., & Ornelas, J. (2014). Community Psychology and Community Mental Health. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Painter, K. (2012). Evidence-Based Practices in Community Mental Health: Outcome Evaluation. Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research, 39, 434–444. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11414-012-9284-0.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Palmer, T. (1974). The Youth Authority’s Community Treatment Program. Federal Probation, 38, 3–14.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pistrang, N., Barker, C., & Humphreys, K. (2008). Mutual Help Groups for Mental Health Problems: A Review of Effectiveness Studies. American Journal of Community Psychology, 42, 110–121. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10464-008-9181-0.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Repper, J., & Carter, T. (2011). A Review of the Literature on Peer Support in Mental Health Services. Journal of Mental Health, 20, 392–411. https://doi.org/10.3109/09638237.2011.583947.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rickel, A. U. (1987). The 1965 Swampscott Conference and Future Topics for Community Psychology. American Journal of Community Psychology, 15(5), 511–513.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rush, A. J., Trivedi, M. H., Wisniewski, S. R., Stewart, J. W., Nierenberg, A. A., Thase, M. E., et al. (2006). Bupropion-SR, Sertraline, or Venlafaxine-XR After Failure of SSRIs for Depression. The New England Journal of Medicine, 354, 1231–1242. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa052963.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Shepperd, S., Doll, H., Gowers, S., James, A., Fazel, M., Fitzpatrick, R., & Pollock, J. (2009). Alternatives to Inpatient Mental Health Care for Children and Young People (Review). Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 1–58. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD006410.pub2.

  • Smith, T. E., et al. (1996). Training Hospitalized Patients with Schizophrenia in Community Reintegration Skills. Psychiatric Services, 47, 1099–1103.

    Google Scholar 

  • Staudt, M., & Drake, B. (2002). Intensive Family Preservation Services: Where’s the Crisis? Children and Youth Services Review, 24, 777–795. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0190-7409(02)00228-1.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stein, L. I., & Test, M. A. (1980). Alternative to Mental Hospital Treatment. I. Conceptual Model, Treatment Program, and Clinical Evaluation. Archives of General Psychiatry, 37, 409–412.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stewart, L. A., et al. (2017). The Impact of a Community Mental Health Initiative on Outcomes for Offenders with a Serious Mental Disorder. Criminal Behavior and Mental Health, 27(4), 371–384.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tao, K. W., Owen, J., Pace, B. T., & Imel, Z. E. (2015). A Meta-Analysis of Multicultural Competencies and Psychotherapy Process and Outcome. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 62, 337–350. https://doi.org/10.1037/cou0000086.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tebes, J. K. (2016). Reflections on the Future of Community Psychology from the Generations After Swampscott: A Commentary and Introduction to the Special Issue. American Journal of Community Psychology, 229–238. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ajcp.12110.

  • Timpe, Z. C., & Lunkenheimer, E. (2015). The Long-Term Economic Benefits of Natural Mentoring Relationships for Youth. American Journal of Community Psychology, 56(1–2), 2–24.

    Google Scholar 

  • Turner, D. T., et al. (2018). A Meta-Analysis of Social Skills Training and Related Interventions for Psychosis. Schizophrenia Belletin, 44(3), 475–491.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weisbrod, B. A., Test, M. A., & Stein, L. I. (1980). Alternative to Mental Hospital Treatment: II. Economic Benefit-Cost Analysis. Archives of General Psychiatry, 400–405. http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/archpsyc.1980.01780170042004.

  • Weisburd, D., et al. (2017). What Works in Crime Prevention and Rehabilitation. Ciminology and Public Policy, 16(2), 415–449.

    Google Scholar 

  • Whitehead, J. T., & Lab, S. P. (1989). A Meta-Analysis of Juvenile Correctional Treatment. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 26, 276–295. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022427889026003005.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, H. A. (2014). Can Antisocial Personality Disorder Be Treated? A Meta-Analysis Examining the Effectiveness of Treatment in Reducing Recidivism for Individuals Diagnosed with ASPD. International Journal of Forensic Mental Health, 13, 36–46. https://doi.org/10.1080/14999013.2014.890682.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yau, E. F., Chan, C. C., Chan, A. S., & Chui, B. K. (2005). Changes in Psychosocial and Work-Related Characteristics Among Clubhouse Members: A Preliminary Report. Work, 25, 287–296. Retrieved from http://content.iospress.com/articles/work/wor00466.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV, USA

    William M. Epstein

Authors
  1. William M. Epstein
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to William M. Epstein .

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Epstein, W.M. (2019). Community Psychological Practice and a Note on Rehabilitation in Corrections. In: Psychotherapy and the Social Clinic in the United States. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-32750-7_9

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation