ABSTRACT
Among those involved in community mental health were many perspectives reflecting the aspect being commented on history, implementation, evaluation, etc., medical vs. social model of psychiatry, primary vs. secondary vs. tertiary prevention goals, provider and recipient of benefit focused on, etc. The introduction of psychiatric drugs like chlorpromazine meant that some mental patients could be treated on an outpatient basis. Conservatives and extremists of either (any) persuasion represented and brought constituencies of weight, and therefor merited negotiation with respect, seriousness, and trust. Independents were autonomous and changeable and thus not trusted or depended on. In many cases, programs for the eradication of social problems, economic improvement, and community mental health were stymied, and their proponents perplexed by hostility and attempts at dispossession by the disadvantaged groups they sought to help and collaborate with.
