American_Association_for_the_Abolition_of_Involuntary_Mental_Hospitalization

American Association for the Abolition of Involuntary Mental Hospitalization

American Association for the Abolition of Involuntary Mental Hospitalization

Add article description


The American Association for the Abolition of Involuntary Mental Hospitalization (AAAIMH) was an organization founded in 1970 by Thomas Szasz, George Alexander, and Erving Goffman for the purpose of abolishing involuntary psychiatric intervention, particularly involuntary commitment.[2][3] The founding of the AAAIMH was announced by Szasz in 1971 on the American Journal of Public Health[4] and American Journal of Psychiatry.[5] In the Platform Statement of the association, one can read:[4][5]

Throughout the entire history of psychiatry, involuntary psychiatric interventions, and especially involuntary mental hospitalization, have been regarded as morally and professionally legitimate procedures. No group of physicians, lawyers, or social scientists has ever rejected such interventions as contrary to elementary principles of dignity and liberty and hence as morally and professionally illegitimate. The AAAIMH does.

Quick Facts Formation, Founder ...

Board chairman of the association was Thomas Szasz.[6] The association provided legal help to psychiatric patients and published a journal, The Abolitionist.[7] The organisation was dissolved in 1980.[7][8]

See also


References

  1. Fisk, Margaret (1976). Encyclopedia of Associations: National organizations of the U.S. Gale Research Company. p. 742. ISBN 081030127X. Archived from the original on 2016-05-27. Retrieved 2015-09-13.
  2. Fischer, Constance; Brodsky, Stanley (1978). Client participation in human services: the Prometheus principle. Transaction Publishers. p. 114. ISBN 087855131X. Archived from the original on 2020-01-28. Retrieved 2020-07-13.
  3. Gove, Walter (1982). Deviance and mental illness. SAGE Publications. p. 201. ISBN 0803918356. Archived from the original on 2016-06-17. Retrieved 2015-09-13.
  4. Simon, Andrew (1998). Made in Hungary: Hungarian contributions to universal culture. Simon Publications LLC. p. 191. ISBN 0966573420.
  5. Schaler, Jeffrey, ed. (2004). Szasz under fire: a psychiatric abolitionist faces his critics. Open Court Publishing. pp. xiv. ISBN 0812695682. Archived from the original on 2020-01-28. Retrieved 2020-07-13.
  6. Propp, Steven (2013). The quest for the inner human: a novel about psychology. iUniverse. p. 270. ISBN 978-1491715291. Archived from the original on 2016-05-27. Retrieved 2015-09-13.

Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article American_Association_for_the_Abolition_of_Involuntary_Mental_Hospitalization, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.