BJSW Advance Access originally published online on September 25, 2006
British Journal of Social Work 2007 37(6):1027-1042; doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcl090
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Consistencies and Inconsistencies: Mental Health, Compulsory Treatment and Community Capacity Building in England, Wales and Australia
Professor Barbara Fawcett is Head of School of Education and Social Work in the Faculty of Education and Social Work, University of Sydney, Camperdown Campus Sydney.
Correspondence to Professor Barbara Fawcett, Faculty of Education and Social Work, University of Sydney, NSW, Australia. E-mail: B.Fawcett{at}edfac.usyd.edu.au
In relation to mental health, it is clear that medicalized underpinnings, the provision of a clinically orientated evidence base for practice and the need to contain ‘risk’ continue to be prioritized, particularly when compulsory intervention is considered. This is despite the increasing influence of a citizenship and social justice agenda which is being promoted by psychiatrists involved in the development of ‘postpsychiatry’, as well as by service users/survivors. These drivers are not mutually exclusive, but in the context of compulsory treatment, there are clear tensions. In this article, the policy surrounding mental health and compulsory intervention in Australia and in England and Wales is explored. In the context of this discussion, three ways in which current government policy can be interpreted are examined and links made between these interpretations and different ways of viewing the relationship between mental health and community capacity building. With regard to social work practice, it is argued that a response to mental ill health which concentrates on an individualized ‘diagnose and treat’ approach, which particularly comes to the fore at times of compulsory intervention, has limited capacity to facilitate community engagement, foster social inclusion and generate reciprocal dynamics between positive mental health and community capacity building.
Keywords: mental health, capacity building, comparative analysis
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  J. Campbell Deciding to Detain: The Use of Compulsory Mental Health Law by UK Social Workers Br. J. Soc. Work, November 5, 2009; (2009) bcp121v1. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
G. Davidson and J. Campbell An Audit of Assessment and Reporting by Approved Social Workers (ASWs) Br. J. Soc. Work, May 23, 2009; (2009) bcp060v1. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
B. Fawcett and J. Reynolds Mental Health and Older Women: The Challenges for Social Perspectives and Community Capacity Building Br. J. Soc. Work, April 9, 2009; (2009) bcp042v1. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|