Giannichedda M G
Department of Economics, Institutions and Society, University of Sassari, Italy.
Int J Soc Psychiatry. 1989 Spring;35(1):62-70. doi: 10.1177/002076408903500107.
Associations of families of the mentally ill arose in Italy in the early 1980s mainly in the country's northern and central regions. They denounced the inadequacies of an extramural service conceived of as an out-patient clinic filling the void left by the shutting down of asylums. The positions elaborated by these associations focus on four main themes: the distribution of the "burden of care" for the ill between services and families; the ill-conceived interpretation of the families' needs owing to the professional's alleged tendency to "point the finger of guilt" at the families themselves; the demand for greater power in regard to decisions made by the services; the interaction with the rights and liberties of the mentally ill. Two different ranges of problems are discussed. First, there is the conflict within the family between the interests and rights of its income-producing and its "dependent" members. This conflict points not to a loss but to an overload of functions shifted to the family at a time of rising expectations for the satisfaction of needs. It therefore calls for services of a new kind, i.e. services capable of making these conflicting interests and rights compatible. Second, extramural services either reject or misinterpret the asylum's labour-saving function. These services thus ascribe care for the material life of the mentally ill to the family's own resources alone.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
20世纪80年代初，意大利出现了精神病患者家属协会，主要集中在该国北部和中部地区。他们谴责了一种被视为门诊诊所的院外服务的不足，这种服务旨在填补因精神病院关闭而留下的空白。这些协会阐述的立场主要集中在四个主题上：服务机构与家庭之间对患者“护理负担”的分配；由于专业人员据称倾向于将“罪责归咎于”家庭本身，对家庭需求的错误解读；对服务机构决策拥有更大权力的要求；与精神病患者权利和自由的互动。文中讨论了两个不同层面的问题。首先，家庭内部在有收入成员和“依赖他人者”的利益和权利之间存在冲突。这种冲突并非表明功能丧失，而是在对需求满足的期望不断提高之际，功能过度转移到了家庭。因此，这就需要一种新型服务，即能够使这些相互冲突的利益和权利相协调的服务。其次，院外服务要么拒绝，要么错误解读精神病院的省力功能。因此，这些服务将对精神病患者物质生活的照料完全归因于家庭自身的资源。（摘要截选至250词）
