Mental health systems have been gutted. Until we stop making excuses and start building solutions that protect the vulnerable, we will continue to cycle through tragedies that could have been prevented.At some point we must Invest in THIS WAR.
Every week, every month, every year, the headlines remind us: men commit the overwhelming majority of violent crimes. Yet, the problem of violent males is rarely named directly.
Instead, society speaks around it. We blame “mental health,” “bad childhoods,” “anger issues,” or even the women who are victimized. What we do not do—still—is face the truth about male violence.
Women and children are often left to bear the brunt of a system that makes excuses rather than makes change. Too often, institutions and policymakers point to “mental health” as the reason for male violence, but even then, the U.S. has dismantled much of the infrastructure that once existed to deal with severe mental illness.
A Timeline of Deprioritizing Mental Health
The tragedy of our current system is not just that we won’t name male violence, but that we simultaneously abandoned meaningful investment in mental health care. Here is a short history:
1963 – President John F. Kennedy signed the Community Mental Health Act, which began the process of deinstitutionalization. The idea was to replace large psychiatric hospitals with community-based centers. But Congress never fully funded these centers, leaving gaps in care.
1970s – President Richard Nixon shifted federal funding into block grants to the states. This weakened federal oversight and placed responsibility on states that often lacked resources or commitment to build comprehensive systems.
1980s – President Ronald Reagan slashed federal mental health budgets and further devolved responsibility to the states. Federal funds were drastically reduced, and states often redirected block grant money elsewhere. As governor of California, Reagan had already overseen the downsizing of state hospitals, and as president, he cemented the federal retreat.
Beyond the 1980s, bipartisan neglect meant that community mental health services never matched the need. People with serious mental illness often ended up homeless, incarcerated, or untreated.
There’s always blame. New names. “Savages” “Super predators” “Thugs”.
More prisons for profit. Releasing people who haven’t received quality treatment (the cruelty is the point) and only come out WORSE than they went in. Escalating. Without quality treatment, mental health management, housing, food, education, and medication.
People with mental health issues require mental health care that they is easily accessible, culturally fluent, funded if necessary, and available as close to 24/7 as possible.
If you don’t work in human services-sincere respect to you for the hard work that you do- but you may not be aware that people have experience rape, domestic violence, random violence in the middle of the night. Imagine if people who were ramped up to attack someone could get help in the middle of the night and it was a common thing. Well-funded.
What We Live With Now
Violence without accountability: We minimize male violence by explaining it away instead of holding perpetrators accountable, or holding systems accountable for treating people with mental illnesses.
Mental health without investment: We often know that mental illness is the cause, but we fail to invest in systems that provide meaningful, adequate, and effective care.
Victims without protection: Women, children, elders, men, and vulnerable populations are left in harm’s way, while the public discussion avoids naming the true patterns of violence.
Where Do We Go From Here?
We cannot continue to look away.
We must name male violence for what it is—not a cultural misunderstanding, not “boys being boys,” but a pattern of harm.
We must demand investment in real mental health care, not excuses that vanish when budgets are drawn up.
We must center the safety of children, women, and men in every policy discussion, recognizing that safety is not optional—it is a right.
Violent men are not being addressed. Mental health systems have been gutted. Until we stop making excuses and start building solutions that protect the vulnerable, we will continue to cycle through tragedies that could have been prevented.
At some point we must Invest in THIS WAR.