 Who is the Tenth Man? The Tenth Man is the one man in ten in your community who will need emotional guidance. Yes, one out of every ten persons in this country needs or will need some form of psychiatric care or treatment. What kind of treatment are they getting in your community? Ladies and gentlemen, this is Ralph Bellamy. Our story is called punishment without crime. And it begins way back in the year 1841. It's a cold Sunday morning in a little town near Boston, Massachusetts. A woman who looks as if she might be a school teacher is being admitted to the women's jail. She's come to conduct a Sunday school class. A Sunday school class, Mom? That's right. Are you the jailer? I am, but I still don't... I'm taking the place of Mr. Samuel Burt. Mr. Burt, he's one of them theological school fellows. Yes. I remember now. He told me you'd be coming. Right this way, Mom. Thank you. What's the matter, Mom? I... I didn't think it was like this. So filthy. It's good enough for the likes of them. What was that? Oh, that's from the Looney bin. Looney bin? You mean you keep the insane here in jail? No place else for a mom. But there's no heat. Nah. Loonies don't need no heat. Perhaps not. But that's something a doctor ought to decide. May I see those women? We used to charge admission to see the Loonies. Well, then we've made some progress. Oh, I never realized it was so bad. Had enough, Mom? Not yet. Do they sleep here? Why are there no beds? Straw's good enough with the dirty things. Perhaps you think so. I guess too many people think so, but I don't. And I'm going to do something about it. And that was how Dorothea Lynde Dix got started on her amazing crusade for better treatment of the mentally ill. Before she died, four years after this episode in the jail, her efforts resulted in the founding or improving of 32 mental hospitals throughout the United States, Canada, and abroad. Strange that we should have almost forgotten this remarkable woman. Yet after all, that was 100 years ago. But what about the present? What do we do for our mentally ill? We've improved some in our care for them, certainly. But have we improved as much as we should? Are we still punishing people for being mentally ill? Are we still putting them in jail? Here's the story of Harry Andrews, a composite case history made up of several cases from the files of the National Mental Health Foundation. Listen to it and judge for yourself. Martha, I've told you time and time again that I can't do anything more for Harry. But you're our family doctor. There isn't anyone else we can count on. Dr. Bryan, you've just got to help us. Martha, I'm a family practitioner and I know my limits. There are a lot of things a family doctor can do, has to do, in these parts. But fooling around with the human mind is not my line. I can't treat Harry. He needs to go to a mental hospital. Oh, no, no. I can't do that to him. It's the only thing you can do. Now brace up, Martha, and listen to me. Yes? If we can get Harry to sign the papers to have himself committed, it will save us from the nasty business of having him declared legally insane. But he won't sign the papers. I think we can coax him to sign. Oh, I can't do it. He'd hate me for the rest of my life. Suppose I try to keep him at home for a while. He might get over it. Martha, you know how I feel about that. Mental illness should be treated early like any other disease. Well? Oh, I can't make up my mind now. I've got to have time to think. This is Martha Andrews. I'm calling about Harry. Yes, what's up? He's gone. Gone where? I don't know. He's been gone since last night. We've been looking all over for him. Where do you suppose he'd be likely to go? I don't know. Yes. They say the best thing for me to do is to stay home and wait until we hear. Oh, Dr. Bryant, he'd been talking wildly about running away to sea. Do you suppose that... Don't fret about him until we're sure. Just set by that phone. I'll be over as soon as possible. All right. Goodbye. Oh, where can that man be? Hello? Speaking. Who is it, please? This is Steve Culver, the sheriff over in Macon County. The sheriff? Lock him up. I will. I'll be right over. I'll bring the doctor along. You don't need to. Oh, no. You don't understand. He's sick. He's sick. How do you add a few too many and booked him on a disorderly conduct charge? But gosh, I didn't know he was cracked up. I mean a little old man. Oh, this is awful. Well, the important thing is to get him out of here and into the state hospital. Dr. Bryant, I'll never forgive myself for not doing that a long time ago. No time for regrets now, Martha. We have something more important to think about. Sheriff, can you release him to us so that we can take him to the state hospital? No. I'm afraid I can't. But why not? It's against the law for one thing. You know that, Doc. If you folks want to put him in the hospital, he'll have to be declared insane. Well, how do we do that? Oh, there's something you fill out and send in. Let's see. Maybe I've got a form around here someplace. Well, Doctor, how long will that take? Whenever you start filling out forms, you can get set for a long tangle with red tape. Heck, all this red tape is just to protect you citizens from getting clapped into a silence when somebody feels like getting out of the way. A few folks oughtn't to complain when the laws are made for your own good. Well, it certainly can't be done. For a sick man to be kept in jail. I didn't write the laws, lady. And here's the form. You see? You have to file the application with a court of record. I guess a circuit judge can take care of that. And you, Doc, will have to send along a certificate of insanity. Then they'll let you know when the hearing is to be. Hearing? Yeah, the lunacy commission. Will Harry have to be there? I'm afraid so. Otherwise, it wouldn't be legal. No, but it would be human to spare him that. Well, then the lunacy commission will declare him insane and issue a commitment order. But all this rigmarole will take months. Oh, not that long, ma'am. Well, what about Harry? Where will he be all this while? Right here, ma'am. In jail? Isn't there any other way of doing this? I'm afraid not, Doc, but it is barbarous, medieval. Take it up with the boys at the State House, Doc. It's no concern of mine. I just don't want to go to jail. The boys at the State House, Doc. It's no concern of mine. I just enforce the law. A commission of lunacy consisting of Julius Knapp, county clerk Roger Buchanan pharmacist and William Hinckley physician, all residents of Madeleine County, has been granted judicial powers to ascertain whether or not Harry Andrews, the alleged lunatic, be sufficiently deprived of his reason as to warrant commitment to the state hospital. The recommendation of this commission, after having examined the said Harry Andrews, that he be declared insane, and that he be committed without delay to the state hospital. They brought him to the hospital in a patrol wagon. He was handcuffed, Doc, and there were two policemen holding onto him. He struggled a little bit, and one of them said, they'll take care of you in there. Oh, it was just all wrong. They didn't know how to handle him. He wouldn't have tried to run away, but they shouldn't have handcuffed him. Anybody would resent that. Yes, it was all wrong, Martha. But that's all past now. Did you see the doctor at the hospital? Yes, he was very nice. He assured me that they'd do the best they could for Harry. They will too, Martha. Now, don't worry anymore. Cheer up. Before you know it, Harry will be well again and you'll be taking him home. Oh, Dr. Bryan, how can we ever hold up our heads again? Martha, it's not a disgrace to have mental illness in the family. Then why did they keep him in jail? Then why did he have to go through those court proceedings? Oh, there were good reasons for all that red tape once. Before the days of clinics and receiving hospitals and so forth, we ought to be able to work out a more sensible and scientific commitment procedure. Something handled by doctors and social workers. Something that also provides full legal protection. It takes people quite a while to rid themselves of old-fashioned laws. Yes, we have to get rid of our old-fashioned ideas first. No, when will that be? When we're all a bit more human than understanding them. And when will that be? You've got me there, Martha. You've got me there. Yeah. Harry Andrews did get well. And he did return home to Martha. But he spent five years of his life in the state hospital. One of the doctors there said that he probably would have gotten better a lot sooner if he'd been treated earlier. If they'd had a psychopathic ward in the general hospital, for example, where he could have gone for treatment, or if he hadn't had to go through all that legal red tape. But a recent survey in 26 states revealed that two out of three mental patients were still being taken to state hospitals by the police. One out of three of these patients were still being lodged in jail before going to the hospital. If Dorothy Addix had returned 100 years after the day she started her liberation at the mentally ill, she still would have found many of them in jail. Yes, perhaps in your own state, she would have found some sick people herded in with criminals, behind bars, and guarded by the police. And who can blame Martha for feeling so badly when our laws use such old fashioned terms as lunacy and insanity? Words that are no longer used in medical circles? Until we reach the day when mental illness is regarded as a disease and not a disgrace, we will continue to have punishment without crime. You have just heard Ralph Bellamy as narrator in Punishment Without Crime produced by the National Mental Health Foundation in association with other organizations dedicated to the preservation of mental health.