Power and caring

Nassi's (1978) article argues that mental health professionals, through their control of services, are more responsive to their own than to community needs. She suggests that more direct control of CMHC policy and practices by residents would make professionals more accountable to those being served. Who controls the bureaucracy is important, but the key problems with CMHCs, as with other human services, is that they have taken over most functions of caring. If we really want to get helping services back into the hands of the community, then we need to assist people to strengthen informal social care-giving arrangements. The arrangements would use professionals as informational consulting resources, not as helpers or problem solvers, except as a last resort.