Continuity in Care: The History of Deinstitutionalization in Oklahoma's Mental Healthcare System

Abstract

Sarah Capps has approached the subject of the deinstitutionalization of Oklahoma’s mental health system with great attention to detail and tenacious research. She has also made connections from the act of deinstitutionalization to its effect on the way Oklahoma’s mentally ill are served today. As society’s most vulnerable population left institutions, they faced many unique challenges. However, the shift in the way people began to deal with the mentally ill was both a reaction to new attitudes and helped shaped them as this population left institutions and was integrated into society. Sarah Capps, through an examination of a diverse array of primary sources, has succeeded in demonstrating the complexity of the endeavor with superb writing and research. - Rita Thompson