This article presents a case study of the survival of Farview State Hospital, Pennsylvania's only maximum security correctional facility for mentally ill offenders. Beginning in the late 1960s, Farview came under attack by lawyers, journalists, politicians, moviemakers, and academics for treating inmates brutally and being very expensive to operate. Despite extraordinarily diverse and concerted efforts to close this institution, it remained open for another 25 years. The endurance of this institution is explained through functional and interest group analysis. If such “worst case” institutions can survive, closing less defective institutions may be even more difficult.
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