ABSTRACT
This chapter examines how providers view their clients and focuses on the different etiologies of mental illness and the implications of these etiologies for client care and treatment. It reviews the mental health care in the United States, describing the movement from institutional to community-based services. The chapter describes the conflicting etiologies of mental illness and the providers' views and understandings about the sources of mental illness. It distinguishes the differences between the psychological, biomedical, and sociological approaches to mental illness and examines the providers' views of mental illness and explanations for the causes of mental illness. Providers in the public sector were case managers, who performed a brokerage role. A case manager works with the client to coordinate the diverse services needed to live in the community. The chapter concludes how the mental health sector changed to conform to institutional demands for community-based care that is founded on a biopsychosocial perspective of mental health.
