Social Responsibility towards the Mentally Challenged

Routinely the mentally challenged are arbitrarily detained in psychiatric facilities, social care homes, orphanages and other closed institutions. Treating the mentally challenged as full human beings implies that they have rights to participate in their communities and societies. Parents, teachers friends, employers, and public officials could support the mentally challenged persons struggle to effectively participate in community life by promoting the perennial values of respect for human dignity, fairness, equality, autonomy and compassion (Franco, 1982). Social acceptance, integration and rehabilitation of the mentally challenged are basically a societal task and can only be possible with the help of the people in the community.