Date of Submission

2003

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Department

Psychology

Department Chair

Arthur Freeman, Ed.D., ABPP

First Advisor

Rosemary Mennuti, Ed.D., Chairperson

Second Advisor

Robert A. DiTomasso, Ph.D., ABPP

Abstract

Utilizing archived data for 650 individuals, psychosocial variables were examined to elucidate the effect of deinstitutionalization on success of community integration. Deinstitutionalization has been blamed for a host of societal ills including the burgeoning homeless population and for overcrowding in prisons. Many claim that deinstitutionalization has failed and that the chronically severely mentally ill have not become part of their communities. Utilizing extant data on consumers released from Pennsylvania state hospitals as part of a unique initiative, the psychosocial variables of age, race, gender, length of institutionalization, placement following hospitalization and diagnosis were correlated with homelessness, incarceration, or whereabouts known to measure rate of community integration. Of all living consumers released under this initiative, 97% are living in the community.

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