The Politics of Mental Health

Abstract

All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1956 (as amended). Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. First published 1985 Pu blished by Higher and Further Education Division MACMILLAN PUBLISHERS LTD Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 2XS and London Companies and representatives throughout the world British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data The Politics of mental health.-(Critical texts in social work and the welfare state) 1. Mental illness-Treatment I. Title II. Banton, Ragnhild III. Series 616.89'06 RC349.8

Revisiting depression in palliative care settings: the need to focus on clinical utility over validity

“…The validity, or legitimacy of a pathological state, that is, depression is contested. [14][15][16][17][18][19] There are currently two diagnostic definitions of depression described within ICD-10 20 and DSM-IV 21 but with only 83% concordance between the two. 22 Problems of definition and diagnosis are compounded in palliative care settings, because many of the physical symptoms used within the diagnostic framework for depression are also symptoms of the underlying physical disease such as cancer (e.g., tiredness, weight loss, appetite change).…”

Happiness and mental health policy: A sociological critique

“…Banton et al (1985) argue that medical discourse creates a dichotomy between the individual's experience of distress and the wider social context that underpins it. Thus the emphasis is on the treatment of individual patients, rather than on tackling the underlying sources of distress, and ''questions surrounding the massive incidence of stress and disturbance in society are transformed into arguments over the adequacy of resources for 'treatment''' (Banton et al, 1985, p. 36).…”

The policy and implementation of the housing role in community care—a constructionist theoretical perspective

“…In particular, Berger & Luckmann's (1966) conceptualisation of agency's spatial ('here') and temporal ('now') experience of 'everyday life', leads to the notion that reality is socially constructed within 'zones' of 'role specific knowledge', where agency has only temporally and spatially contingent knowledgable competence, and where agents are only intensely interested in those 'manipulative' zones which are involved in their daily occupation of tasks. (Berger & Luckmann, 1966, p. 36) Consequently, when investigating the policy sector, Berger & Luckmann (1966) direct our methodological attention towards the nature of professionalism (Banton et al, 1985;Franklin & Clapham, 1997;Howe, 1991;Sibeon, 1991a;Wilding, 1982) where professionals undertake different roles and possess, mobilise and manipulate their role specific knowledge (to which others do not have equal access or even interest in accessing) in the service of implementing policy.…”