The Social Organization of Mental Illness / Edition 1

by Lindsay Prior, Lindsay F Prior

Overview

This thought-provoking book examines the organization of medical and social services for people with serious psychiatric disorders. It focuses on the current transition from hospital-centred to community-centred services.

The first part of the book concentrates on the changes which have occurred in the theory and practice of key groups of professionals, including psychiatrists, nurses, social workers, occupational therapists and psychologists. The second part describes how those changes have directly impinged on the everyday lives of people affected by psychiatric disorders. Prior demonstrates how sociological insights can be gained from an examination of the multiple ways in which disorders have been represented in and thr

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780803984998
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Publication date:	09/23/1993
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	5.43(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

Lindsay Prior is Professor of Sociology at Queens University, Belfast. He is currently a Principal Investigator for the Health Policy Research stream within the recently opened Northern Ireland Centre of Excellence in Public Health. Since the mid 1980s, his research interests have been split between medical sociology and the sociology of health and illness and the design and use of qualitative research methods - particularly those that involve the use of text and documentation. In past years he has a acted as Principal Investigator for major awards from the Wellcome Trust (Biomedical Ethics Programme), the ESRC (Innovative Health Technologies Programme), the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, and various NHS R&D Offices. The research work associated with these grants has covered a wide range of health-related topics and interests, including a focus on lay understandings of health and disease, and the application of qualitative research methods to health service research problems.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Social Representations and Social Worlds
Changing Images of the Psychiatric Hospital
The Diverse Objects of Psychiatric Theory
Networks of Professional Practice
Representations of Psychiatric Disorder in the Community
Representations of Psychiatric Disorder in the Family
The Social Worlds of the Hospital
The Social Worlds of the Community
Epilogue
Representations of Mental Illness