Service users, authority, power and protest: A call for renewed activism

Lakeman, Richard; McGowan, Patrick; Walsh, Jim

doi:10.7748/mhp2007.12.11.4.12.c6332

Cited by 25 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…The authority of the celebrity often extends well beyond their knowledge, expertise or experience. (Lakeman et al , 2007,24 p15)…”

Section: Celebrity Culturementioning

confidence: 99%

“…This loose-knit movement traced the footsteps of the social revolutions alluded to earlier—the abolition of slavery, the emancipation of women, civil rights and gay rights. However, Lakeman and colleagues24 wrote that the original concern with social justice that had characterised mental health activism had been eroded. They argued that many of those who previously represented a radical or activist voice in mental health consumerism had been bought off, acquiring celebrity status or becoming corporate entities who demanded…”

Section: Celebrity Culturementioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Mental health in an age of celebrity: the courage to care

Barker

Buchanan-Barker²

2008

Med Humanities

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Modern psychiatry, which once focused only on the containment and "cure" of madness, has evolved into a mental health industry, where almost every aspect of human life, may be cast as a "mental disorder". In Western countries, a narcissistic appetite for self-improvement and "well-being" has evolved over the past 50 years, mirroring the emergence of the celebrity culture. These developments appear linked to a fading of interest in the traditional concept of human caring, leading to a further marginalisation of people with serious "mental health problems" and to increased use of authoritarian forms of control and containment. In this paper, the idea of vocation in the field of mental health is explored. What exactly are we called to do as people-whether as professionals, friends or fellow travellers-when someone experiences a significant problem in human living?

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“…The authority of the celebrity often extends well beyond their knowledge, expertise or experience. (Lakeman et al , 2007,24 p15)…”

Section: Celebrity Culturementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Celebrity Culturementioning

confidence: 99%

Mental health in an age of celebrity: the courage to care

Barker

Buchanan-Barker²

2008

Med Humanities

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Similar problems have been identified in aspects of the mental health service user survivor movement that are run along non-hierarchical principles. Community advocacy groups have turned against those who are perceived as speaking for them once they gain media attention, for the understandable reason that these people do not stand (or speak) for the groups (Lakeman et al, 2007: provide a pyramid model of service user involvement). Problems of representation and legitimacy are deeply embedded within the service user and recovery movements, and for good reason.…”

Section: Positive Freedom Power and Authority In Participatory Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

Theorising participatory practice and alienation in health research: A materialist approach

2015

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Health inequalities research has shown a growing interest in participatory ways of working. However, the theoretical ideas underpinning mainstream approaches to participation remain underexplored. This article contributes to theorising participatory practice for the kind of egalitarian politics to which many of those focused on reducing health inequalities are committed. First, we argue that the ambitions of participatory practice should be concentrated on 'overcoming alienation', rather than 'attaining freedom from power'. An overemphasis on negative freedom may help to explain a worrying confluence between participatory democracy and neo-liberal marketization agendas -we look instead to traditions of participatory practice that emphasize positive freedom and capacities for collaboration. Second, we discuss some such perspectives though consideration of critical pedagogy, but highlighting the role of materialised relations of authority, spaces, objects and encounters. Third, we explore the relationship between objectivity and alienation, arguing that participatory politics, against alienation, can look to reclaim objectivity for participatory, lively, practice. We then seek to show that participatory practice can play a role in creating common knowledge and culture, and in fostering a sense of public ownership over objective knowledge and institutions concerned with health. We conclude by asking what this looks like in practice, drawing some 'rules of thumb' for participatory practice in health inequalities research from existing inspiring examples.

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“…He argues that service user-controlled research in popular spaces holds greater potential for challenging hegemonic discourses and developing new forms of knowledge (Beresford 2009). The introduction of education programmes to develop expert patients is also critically discussed in the included texts and is related to risks of creating an increasingly stratified service user movement and rearticulating the hierarchies of psychiatry (Hopton 2006;Lakeman et al 2007). …”

Section: The Integration Of Service User Knowledgementioning

confidence: 99%

Participatory Spaces of Mental Health Service User Organizations in the Post-deinstitutional Era: Mapping Roles and Challenges

2017

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By applying the concept of participatory spaces, this article maps and analyzes current research on mental health service user organizations (MHSUOs). We have analyzed research literature from 2006 to 2016 to examine how the role of and challenges facing MHSUOs are formulated in the post-deinstitutional era. The current situation is marked by MHSUOs parallel presence in invited, claimed and popular spaces for participation. The postdeinstitutional era is characterized by a shift in focus from gaining access to such participatory spaces, to critically examining the political opportunities available in these. We further argue that the dominance of psychiatry-specific spaces could prevent MHSUOs from fully exploring their potential for participation in broader social issues.

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Service users, authority, power and protest: A call for renewed activism

Cited by 25 publications

References 12 publications

Mental health in an age of celebrity: the courage to care

Mental health in an age of celebrity: the courage to care

Theorising participatory practice and alienation in health research: A materialist approach

Participatory Spaces of Mental Health Service User Organizations in the Post-deinstitutional Era: Mapping Roles and Challenges

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