Psychiatrised Children and their Rights: Starting the Conversation

LeFrançois, Brenda A.; Coppock, Vicki

doi:10.1111/chso.12082

Cited by 37 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…While surveillance of child health is not new, it is important to understanding the ways in which children are categorised as healthy or ill, normal or deviant; categorisations that contribute to shaping the embodied lives of children and young people. For example, research on medicalisation as well as psychiatrisation of child development and behaviour (Le Francois and Coppock ), followed by pharmaceuticalisation (Williams et al . ) has raised the question of how categories of child deviance are constructed in the process of health surveillance and also how diagnosis can function as a tool to categorise individuals (Jutel ).…”

Section: Themes Of This Issuementioning

confidence: 99%

Connecting a sociology of childhood perspective with the study of child health, illness and wellbeing: introduction

Brady

Lowe

Lauritzen

2015

Sociology Health & Illness

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The health and wellbeing of children and young people has been studied from a range of different perspectives in social science and the health sciences as a whole. Much of the research to date has been for or on children and has focused on promoting health, detecting illness and its causes or investigating the social determinants of health. While these make vital contributions to making the world better for children and young people, we would argue there is also a need for research with children, research from a child perspective, to fully understand the meaning and impact of health and illness in children's lives. Furthermore, there is a need to explore the social and cultural contexts of child health that frame the lived experiences of children and their parents. More specifically, there is a need to interrogate the explicit as well as the implicit perceptions of childhood and the child in health policy, perceptions that are reproduced in various health and social practices. The purpose of this issue is to contribute to a further understanding of these issues by bridging developments in the sociology of childhood and the sociology of health and illness.In the last decades we have seen a growing interest across disciplines in research on children's own experiences and understandings of health and illness. It can be argued that this increasing interest has been stimulated by developments in the sociology of childhood. Through the 1990s a body of work emerged which criticised dominant notions of child development where children were largely depicted as immature and passive objects of socialisation (Burman 1994, Halldén 1991, James and Prout 1997, Qvortrup 1994.Scholars of the sociology of childhood problematised these notions of the child by theorising the ways in which childhood is socially constructed and understandings of the child vary across different sociocultural contexts. Importantly, the focus was shifted from seeing children as immature becomings on their way to adulthood to a focus on children as beings and as competent actors with a social agency of their own, not only influenced by but also influencing their social worlds (James et al. 1998, James and Prout 1997, Qvortrup 1994. Moreover, by understanding children as a specific social group, attention could be directed at children's rights and the structures that enabled and restricted control over their lives (Alanen and Mayall 2001).Since these early years, the theoretical positions and central concepts in the sociology of childhood (and its place in sociology) have been, and are, debated (see, for example, Alanen 2014, James 2010, Moran-Ellis 2010). At the same time, empirical studies of children and childhoods have been burgeoning in sociology and in other disciplines. Although a full account of these developments and disciplinary differences falls outside the scope of this issue, here we want to draw attention to some of the central concepts and theoretical points of departure in this tradition that we find of particular interest for studies of c...

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Section: Themes Of This Issuementioning

confidence: 99%

Connecting a sociology of childhood perspective with the study of child health, illness and wellbeing: introduction

Brady

Lowe

Lauritzen

2015

Sociology Health & Illness

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“…All description is a choice, not an actuality. For example, LeFrançois and Coppock () coined the term ‘psychiatrised children’ to radicalise the experience of children in the Mental Health field. The energy in this term is liberating of children and young people.…”

Section: The Spoken Wordmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Light within the Light: An Exploration of the Role of Anam Ċara in Irish Celtic Spiritualty and its Application to 21st‐century Therapy

McVeigh

2017

ANZ J of Family Therapy

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There is an increasing interest in a holistic approach to therapy with families that includes integrating spirituality into theoretical and practice approaches. However, many practitioners feel ill-equipped to narrow the gap between the clinical and the spiritual. This article explores an ancient Celtic Irish spiritual framework and its applicability to 21st-century therapists. It focuses on the role of the Anam _ Cara from the Celtic world. The Anam _ Cara was a person of wisdom to whom people turned to for guidance, advice, and healing. This paper contends that the Anam _ Cara of the ancient Celtic world is akin to the therapists of today. The Celtic Irish saw the spiritual context in all occasions and regarded all forms of work as sacred. This paper examines this sacred work. It looks at the language, rituals, and imagination of the Anam _ Cara, translating these ancient practices for therapists to utilise to enhance their holistic approach to treatment.1 This paper discusses Celtic Irish spirituality, in particular, the notion of Anam _ Cara (soul friend) in terms of 21st-century therapy. 2 Fundamental to the spiritually charged nature of life for the Celtic Irish was the notion that all work is sacred and must be sanctified with the reverence of words. 3 Professional speak of diagnosis and disorder does not bring us closer to the truth of someone's lived experience or how to be with them. 4 The therapist must be mindful of the energy and language they bring to the work; the energy we carry with us in our bodies, hearts, and thoughts becomes part of therapy, for example, a belief in 'dysfunctional' people will be transferred into the work. 5 If a therapist wishes to relieve people of the chaotic forces of problems and challenges then they must bring only energy that can act as an antidote, for example, compassion, serenity, beauty. Honouring the sacred nature of all work is the context within which these healing energies are created. 6 Blessings or sacred words are the clothes that can wrap the family as they transverse the territory of change.The Irish word Beannacht means blessing and greeting. In the Irish Celtic way, meeting someone and uttering words of salutation is a spiritual act of acknowledging their sacred presence. Moreover, to write about spiritualty is a spiritual act. The introduction section of this paper is me, the writer, greeting you, my professional colleagues. Therefore a Beannacht must be performed.

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“…Young people in such settings are positioned both as inpatients and adolescents, needing to manage psychiatrised discourses about themselves as well as authority-figure expectations of who and how an adolescent should be (LeFrancois and Coppock, 2014). Psychiatrised discourses contain value judgements that position those "in need" as helpless, passive in decision making about their own care and dependent (LeFrancois and Coppock, 2014;Woodhead, 1997). They feed into normative repertoires of a "standardised" childhood without necessarily acknowledging the systemic context of emotional distress (Morrow and Weisser, 2012).…”

Section: Inpatient Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (Camhs)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“Attention seeker”, “drama queen”: the power of talk in constructing identities for young people with mental health difficulties

Byrne

Swords

2015

Mental Health Review Journal

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Purpose -Mental health difficulties are often stigmatised because of situated ways of talking that become taken-for-granted "truths". Against this backdrop, identities of those affected are constructed. The purpose of this paper is to explore identities of former inpatients at an Irish Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service. Design/methodology/approach -Ten young people (aged 18-22) participated in discussions and their discourse was analysed using a critical discursive perspective. Findings -Three key identities emerged: a hidden identity, a misunderstood identity and the struggle for a re-claimed identity. Research limitations/implications -Findings indicate the power of discourse in creating stigma and the need for mental health professionals to draw on empowering discourses to help service-users construct positive identities. The importance of involving service-users in research is also implicated. Originality/value -This research involves service-users who are increasingly, although not traditionally, involved in research. Use of qualitative methodology allows their voices to be heard and gives meaning to their experiences.

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Psychiatrised Children and their Rights: Starting the Conversation

Cited by 37 publications

References 14 publications

Connecting a sociology of childhood perspective with the study of child health, illness and wellbeing: introduction

Connecting a sociology of childhood perspective with the study of child health, illness and wellbeing: introduction

The Light within the Light: An Exploration of the Role of Anam Ċara in Irish Celtic Spiritualty and its Application to 21st‐century Therapy

“Attention seeker”, “drama queen”: the power of talk in constructing identities for young people with mental health difficulties

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