ABSTRACT
The considerable social, political and economic changes which took place in Britain between 1930 and 1959 have been amply documented. The roots of the Community Mental Health (CMH) model date back to the moral approach and to the 19th century social medicine movement. CMH does not reject the existing social order of Western parliamentary democracies. In fact, it is attempting to secure its perpetuation through the prevention and containment of mental distress. The acceptance of the existing social order and the optimistic belief in the capacity to change elements of it on their own reflect on the notions of planned liberalism in the US and the UK during the 50s. The similarity between these approaches ends here, because even the conclusion in regard to social responsibility as a principle for providing services differs between the two models: Conceptually, social responsibility has no place in the clinical-somatic approach.
