George W. Dowdall is Professor of Sociology, St. Joseph's University and Adjunct Professor of Community Health, Brown University School of Medicine.

• List of Figures List of Tables Acknowledgments Preface 1. State Mental Hospitals as the Organizaitonal Pivot of Policy 2. The Natural History of an Organizational Form: The State Mental Hospital 3. "A Most Noble Charity": The Birth of a State Asylum 4. Organizational Development: How the State Asylum Became the State Hospital 5. The State Hospital: Reform as Inertia 6. "Trying Times of Transition:" From State Hospital to Psychiatric Center 7. The Contemporary State Psychiatric Center: Up to Standards? 8. Public Policy and the Seriously Mentally Ill: The Future of the State Mental Hospital Appendix A: Data Sources and Methods Appendix B: Standards for State Mental Hospitals Bibliography Index

"The use of data to address many of the questions raised is most innovative. I believe this book would make a good contribution to the study of mental health treatment and policy." — Clifford L. Broman, Michigan State University