Whatever Happened to Psychiatry? The Deprofessionalization of Community Mental Health Centers

Abstract

The authors describe the dichotomy in the concept of community mental health centers. One view regards the community mental health center as a service provider for underserved populations, and another holds that it is an agent of social change. Deprofessionalization of community mental health centers has resulted from this lack of clear purpose, curtailment of funds, and conflicts over authority, service delivery, and control of the centers. Deprofessionalization has led to a decline in the number of psychiatrists in community mental health centers and a potentially negative impact on the quality of patient care.