Books, Articles and Research

Solutions to discrimination in work and housing identified by people with mental illness
This study examines perceived solutions to discrimination in housing and employment situations.

The sympathetic discriminator: Mental illness, hedonic costs, and the ADA
Discrimination against people with mental illness occurs in part because of how those with mental illness can make other people feel.Thus, a central basis for discrimination in this context is what I call hedonic costs. Hedonic costs are affective or emotional costs: an influx of negative emotion or loss of positive emotion. In addition, the phenomenon of emotional contagion, which is one source of hedonic costs, makes discrimination against people with mental illness peculiarly intractable.

"It's important to be proud of the place you live in": Housing problems and preferences of psychiatric survivors.
This paper reports findings from a series of focus group meetings held with survivors of mental illness to address issues concerning housing preferences and housing needs.

Forensic mental health law reform in Japan: From criminal warehousing to broad-spectrum specialist services?
This article seeks to demonstrate that the new forensic law in Japan cannot achieve its own stated goals without seeking to put into place financial and administrative supports aimed to integrate the myriad of patient populations that inevitably will be affected by the new forensic system.

Association between community and client characteristics and subjective measures of the quality of housing
The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between subjective perceptions of the quality of housing among mental health consumers and both client characteristics and objective measures of the client's neighborhood.

Acquiring medical services for individuals with mental retardation in community-based housing facilities.
This study examined the understanding of issues involved in acquiring services and the clinical decision-making experiences of 13 service agency directors representing 1,400 individuals with MR were investigated.

Affordable, appropriate, integrated housing
In this report, the authors address the housing needs common to many people with disabilities. In particular, they address the need for: affordable housing; supportive, person-centered housing services; and accessible, integrated housing.

Danforth residents cool to project group plans to build housing for people with mental illness
A brief article describing the life of an individual with mental illness and her struggles to find appropriate housing.

Separate and unequal: The struggle of tenants with mental illness to maintain housing
This article assesses the current state of the law and challenges poverty and disability advocates to marshal new resources and arguments in an effort to secure full tenancy rights for These consumers.

Getting from NIMBY to yes: How developers can overcome opposition and mobilize support for multifamily housing 
An article that explains how developers can address opposition to the development of multi-family housing, specifically providing tips for reducing opposition from citizens and mobilizing community support for a project.

Supported housing for people with severe and persistent mental illness: A plan for Hamilton-Wentworth
This plan focuses on the supportive housing requirements for the populations currently eligible for long-term care supportive housing.

Housing and mental health: Reducing housing difficulties for people with mental illness
This paper outlines key issues in housing provision for people with serious mental illness and suggests a policy framework. It draws on the limited research available on the housing needs of people with mental illness and on information available from the mental health sector. It is intended to generate discussion and better understanding of the issues in the mental health and housing sectors.

NIMBY and housing for the mentally ill
The third installment of an NPR series on finding homes for people who need support and services. The journalist visits a Pittsburgh, PA neighborhood that feels squeezed between its own needs -- and its duty to others.

Town torn over mental health center plan: Treatment center plan divides Pleasant Hill
This article describes a dispute over plans to open a residential site for persons with mental illnesses in East Bay San Francisco.

The ethics of NIMBYism
This article is intended to review ethical conflicts associated with affordable housing, describe how anti-housing neighbors try to morally justify their position, and challenge housing providers to consider the morality of their own approach to community outreach.

Traditional neighborhoods without traditional NIMBYism
Brief article outlining the various types of opposition that may be encountered when developing new neighborhoods, as a means of assisting in the creation of an outreach campaign to specifically address the needs of the community.