@OP/"Christine": Were you at McLean when Anne Sexton finally got her wish to be committed there? At the time, I do believe it was considered to be a bit de rigeur for the depressingly artistic, or is that the artistically depressing? Or perhaps Sexton merely wished to emulate or compete with Sylvia Plath, who was rumored to have more credentials (and credibility) in both of the aforementioned departments...
That said, I do not wish, in any way, to undercut what you must have gone through as a teenager. Both of the above noted compatriots at McLean were more or less willing adults during their respective tenures.
I have heard that it was more common than one might think, at the time, for "unruly" or "unmanageable" adolescents to be incarcerated in mental institutions as a means of getting them into a more cooperative frame of mind. I believe this may have started sometime back in the late 60s. By the early 70s, it was already a pretty entrenched modus operandi in certain locales (it may well have been earlier; my dates are based on cases that I actually know of). I imagine that the Boston, Massachusetts metropolitan area would be one of the forerunners of that trend, given the size of its medical community and its predilection for experimenting with the newest and most "progressive" methodology.
Although money seems to change hands as a matter of course these days (in the form of some kind of "finder's fee," I s'pose), I think -- back then -- some of these transactions were probably done more or less as a type of "professional courtesy." A "I wash your back, you wash mine" type of thing. Of course, there was also a certain degree of ideological involvement, as well.
The kids were usually mostly "behavioral problem" types, though some did already have juvie records. Mostly girls, since they were considered to be more malleable, but also some boys, especially if they were deemed to be of less violence-prone natures. Trouble at home, or trouble at school were usually precipitating factors...also drug-related activities and running away.
Often, there would be a school counselor or a family therapist involved, and the courts, if resorted to, would just railroad this thing through... A destination of a very controlled, lockdown facility with medical and psychiatric personnel integrally involved, probably seemed like a very sane solution to many a family court judge at the time.
The most telling feature of this whole phenomenon, though, would be the miraculous "cure" or "improvement in coping ability" that would appear in the kids chart just prior to the parents' insurance running out, and the kid's subsequent discharge from the mental institution.These kids probably endured a hell of a lot of personal stigma over the years from these formative experiences -- they were deemed "mentally ill," for crying out loud -- and I think that has a lot to do with why one doesn't hear too many people talking about their time in
those joints.