The paradoxes of reform: reevaluating Italy's mental health law of 1978.

Recent data on Italy's mental health law of 1978 delineate a more complex picture of deinstitutionalization than that suggested by the first wave of enthusiastic writings on the law's implementation. In violation of the law's original intent, many Italian regions depend heavily on newly established hospital-based units, while development of community services has been uneven. Factors affecting implementation include both ambiguous and unenforceable provisions in the law and unwillingness at the national and local levels to fund necessary community alternatives. Recent proposals to "reform the reform" may move Italian psychiatry even further away from the legacy of successful deinstitutionalization in cities such as Trieste and Arezzo.