THE SOCIAL CONTEXT OF THE 1983 MENTAL HEALTH ACT

SECTIONED ◽  
2010 ◽  
pp. 11-43
Author(s):  
Robbie Duschinsky ◽  
Sarah Foster

The theory of mentalizing and epistemic trust introduced by Peter Fonagy and colleagues at the Anna Freud Centre has been an important perspective on mental health and illness. This book is the first comprehensive account and evaluation of this perspective. The book explores 20 primary concepts that organize the contributions of Fonagy and colleagues: adaptation, aggression, the alien self, culture, disorganized attachment, epistemic trust, hypermentalizing, reflective function, the p-factor, pretend mode, the primary unconscious, psychic equivalence, mental illness, mentalizing, mentalization-based therapy, non-mentalizing, the self, sexuality, the social environment, and teleological mode. The biographical and social context of the development of these ideas is examined. The book also specifies the current strengths and limitations of the theory of mentalizing and epistemic trust, with attention to the implications for both clinicians and researchers.


2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 210-220 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carla T. Hilario ◽  
John L. Oliffe ◽  
Josephine P. Wong ◽  
Annette J. Browne ◽  
Joy L. Johnson

In recent years, the experiences of immigrant and refugee young men have drawn attention worldwide. Human-induced environmental disasters, local and global conflicts, and increasingly inequitable distributions of wealth have shaped transnational migration patterns. Canada is home to a large immigrant and refugee population, particularly in its urban areas, and supporting the mental health and well-being of these communities is of critical importance. The aim of this article is to report findings from a qualitative study on the social context of mental health among immigrant and refugee young men, with a focus on their migration and resettlement experiences. Informed by the conceptual lens of social context, a thematic narrative analysis approach was used to examine qualitative data from individual and group interviews with 33 young men (age 15 to 22 years) self-identified as immigrants or refugees and were living in Greater Vancouver, western Canada. Three thematic narratives were identified: a better life, living the (immigrant) dream, and starting again from way below. The narratives characterized the social context for immigrant and refugee young men and were connected by a central theme of negotiating second-class citizenship. Implications include the need for mental health frameworks that address marginalization and take into account the contexts and discourses that shape the mental health of immigrant and refugee populations in Canada and worldwide.


2019 ◽  
Vol 49 (8) ◽  
pp. 2187-2206 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Vicary ◽  
Alys Young ◽  
Stephen Hicks

Abstract The rise in numbers of applications for people being formally detained in hospital is one of the reasons given for the independent review of the Mental Health Act in England and Wales. These figures have led to concerns that the legislation might be flawed, including in relation to the process of Mental Health Act Assessments. Discussed in this article are two of the roles involved: the doctor who is responsible for conducting a medical assessment and the Approved Mental Health Professional (AMHP) who is responsible for assessing the social circumstances and in addition making the application. Using data from a study into AMHPs and the lens of the sociological theory ‘dirty work’, we discuss shift, an aspect of dirty work not yet applied in this context. We focus on AMHPs’ perceptions of the behaviour of doctors as encapsulated in the verbatim phrase ‘role over’. We argue that AMHPs, including social workers, justify or, to play on the words of the verbatim quote, roll over. This finding adds to the understanding of behaviour as it is understood within psychiatric occupations, including social work, during Mental Health Act Assessments.


2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 201-207
Author(s):  
Sue Holttum

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to discuss five recent papers on military people and those close to them, and to suggest how taking into account their families and sense of social inclusion is key to mental well-being. Design/methodology/approach There are four papers about military people’s adjustment when they return from a war zone, often with experience of traumatic stress. A fifth paper discusses getting soldiers back to war when they experience traumatic stress. Findings The studies on reintegration into civilian life focus mainly on the family. They suggest that involvement of the spouse or close partner in treatment may be crucial. The military person and their family are faced with forging new roles and ways of doing things. Joint treatment may best help them do this and functioning well as a family with everyone feeling they belong. The fifth paper argues for similar kinds of social support and sense of belonging, but to the military rather than the family, to support return to battle. Originality/value Few studies to date have included military people’s spouses or intimate partners. These studies either include these contacts or pay attention to the social context when considering military people returning home or experiencing traumatic stress and injuries. Attention to the social context may protect social inclusion when military people return home, or support their military role. The potential contribution of working with that context has lessons for civilian mental health services in preserving social inclusion.


2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  

Abstract The Shanghai declaration (WHO 2016) stated the role that health literacy (HL) may play in the struggle for more equitable society. Moving from good intentions to social practices of HL reveals that the social context where HL is embedded is a key determinant of the establishment of social practices that may play a critical role in wellbeing and quality of life. Exploring how the translation of HL into a social context is achieved or how the social context may determine strategies to face the challenges that HL production need, is a relevant domain in the public health and health promotion agenda. The aim of this workshop is to share with the audience an opportunity to immerse in five social contexts and explore their HL practices. The first perspective is from Cameroon and the emphasis is on HL role in increasing health knowledge. The authors share the results of an ethnographic analysis of the role of school children in the development of HL in families. The second presentation will unveil one of the topics that is influencing health and well-being of children today when a large struggle to counter act sugar beverages is at the root of obesity. Therefore, a study case from Portugal will focus on HL impact on nutrition status and water intake in children showing the relevance of the social context considered a way forward in the struggle for health promotion. From Germany a third presentation will consider migrants and refugees children's role in promoting the family HL. Recent research on HL stresses the importance of the social context for children's HL, especially among vulnerable groups such as migrants and refugees. However, reaching migrants is difficult, so experts recommend adult second language courses (SLC) as promising settings to promote HL of migrants and their families. Yet, empirical evidence of promoting family health literacy (FHL) in SLC is scarce and therefore addressing such a topic is seminal towards improving the Shanghai HL vision above referred. In Switzerland, adolescent's mental health promotion is the focus of a psychoeducational tool in the pediatric primary care (PPC) that will be considered in the fourth presentation. The aim is to scrutinized this social context, increase mental health literacy of adolescents by implementing proactive mental health strategies and create an opportunity for open discussion with their pediatrician about mental health. Finally, the fifth presentation aims at illuminating (digital) HL practices using applied linguistics. HL is key to making well-informed health decision in analogous and virtual social situations and organizational contexts. Multiple models and instruments of HL exist, but an in-depth understanding of the various HL-related everyday life situations and their digital and linguistic requirements are scarce. Here, the expertise and necessary skills for everyday communication, including health, are the object of an ethnographic research to help fill this gap. Key messages The relevance of the social context and how changes of this context can lead to transformations that influence health literacy of children is a way forward in the struggle for health promotion. share with the audience an opportunity to immerse in five social contexts and explore their HL practices.


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