Community Care and Social Exclusion of the Chronically Mentally Ill

Everyday life for the mentally ill has been characterized typically by social exclusion. This study attempts to identify some of the elements of this exoerience bv focusine on the dimensions of residential scgregatio& ~ n e m ~ l ~ ~ m c n t , social isolation, and time. Psrtici~ant observa~ion and interview methods wcrc used to understand the problem of social exclusion for 60 former state hospital patients. The results suggest that social exclusion can be interpreted as part of a wider system of socio-cultural organization which fosters the separation of the mentally ill.