There is a concept I read about years ago called "soft totalitarianism". It comes from the idea that a totalitarian state can actually prove more effective if it can be set up in such a way that it doesn't require platoons of brownshirts to storm the "enemies" of the state. No matter how much velvet covers the steel gauntlet of such a state - the results are lost fundamental freedom.

This article recounts how a child that was diagnosed one way by one hospital and another by another was then forced to spend a year locked in a psych ward. And now DCF is trying to remove her from her parents altogether. I first heard of this on the radio and the attorney that was speaking said that the child has been refused visits from a priest (she's Catholic) and the parents can only visit with DCF personnel present and at times outnumbering them 5:1. The Globe also found 5 other similar situations in its investigation.