Making of the Mental Health Crisis
United States · 1843–2026
“The idea of ‘social problems’ is unique to modern societies… It is part of how we think and how we interpret the world around us,
that we perceive many conditions as not only deplorable but as capable of being relieved by and as requiring public action.
The concept of ‘social problem’ is a category of thought, a way of seeing certain conditions as providing a claim to change through public actions.”
Start at the Timeline to explore claims-making events of the mental health crisis in the United States.
Then, follow each reading chapter that examines a specific dimension of the crisis construction.
Or, begin with Summary to see what each chapter covers, for a top-down approach to the archive.
Inspect more information about the archive, its methodology and all the works cited in the appendices.
Joseph R. Gusfield, “Constructing the Ownership of Social Problems: Fun and Profit in the Welfare State” Social Problems 36(5), 1989, 431–441
Archive entry signal
Explore the archive chapters
- Treats
- Common side effect
- U.S. introduction
- Company