The Limitations of Deinstitutionalization: The Case of the Israeli-Occupied Palestinian West Bank

This essay examines the concept and limitations of deinstitutionalization as a principle and practice derived from Western paradigms, and how it has been problematically implemented in non-Western settings, -including the Israeli-occupied West Bank. It begins by reviewing the international literature on deinstitutionalization of people with mental health illnesses/disabilities. It then examines the Palestinian experience with deinstitutionalization in the West Bank with an eye to its many limitations, in order to propose alternatives to successfully relocate people with -mental health disabilities from hospitals to their communities, and to ensure for them a dignified life. The essay ends with an emphasis on this need in the -Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories given the ongoing daily reality of Israeli military occupation and apartheid, which have had dire effects on Palestinians' mental health.