The Road to Hell is Paved With Good Intentions: Deinstitutionalization and Mass Incarceration Nation
Abstract
They say that the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and our failed implementation of deinstitutionalization inthe 1970s is a prime example of the point. In this symposium contribution-a response to Jeffrey Bellin's book MassIncarceration Nation-I offer a historical account of deinstitutionalization of state mental hospi tals, tracing how severelymentally ill patients were discharged from state hospitals and eventually made their way back to secure beds, but in our nation's jails and prisons instead. Mental health and mass incarceration are not separate crises, I argue, but rather inter connected problems with an interconnected past that require an interconnected solution. The lessons ofdeinstitutionalization's fail ures can inform how our decarceration story plays out, offering an opportunity to avoid the mistakes of our past and moue toward a more just, humane, and equitable future-a future that takes the "mass" out of mass incarceration.
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2024
Recommended Citation
Corinna Barrett Lain, The Road to Hell is Paved With Good Intentions: Deinstitutionalization and Mass Incarceration Nation, 65 Wm. & Mary L. Rev. 893 (2024).
Included in
Criminal Law Commons, Criminal Procedure Commons, Law Enforcement and Corrections Commons
