Community mental-health programs and social history: an inter-American comparison

This theoretical paper argues that the evolution of community mental health, as both a concept and a movement, is a function of social history. Furthermore cross-cultural differences in social history are seen as best explaining differences between the Americas in the relative speed and nature of the development of community mental health. Pertinent social history factors in the United states, Ontario (Canada), and Colombia (South America) are presented as providing some evidence for the validity of the paper's thesis. Finally, a universal developmental sequence model is discussed and depicted in figure form. The implications for future developments in community mental health are briefly discussed in the context of the model.