American Association for the Abolition of Involuntary Mental Hospitalization


The American Association for the Abolition of Involuntary Mental Hospitalization was an organization founded in 1970 by Thomas Szasz, George Alexander, and Erving Goffman for the purpose of abolishing involuntary psychiatric intervention, particularly involuntary commitment. The founding of the AAAIMH was announced by Szasz in 1971 on the American Journal of Public Health and American Journal of Psychiatry. In the Platform Statement of the association, one can read:
Board chairman of the association was Thomas Szasz. The association provided legal help to psychiatric patients and published a journal, The Abolitionist. The organisation was dissolved in 1980.