New Book: Madness Contested: Power and Practice

Thank you for the opportunity to join the blog and to give an outline of the recent book Madness Contested. My belief is that we need to radically rethink how we make sense of people who experience extreme emotional states, are distressed, and have beliefs, or act in ways that other people find hard to understand. Despite sustained criticisms from academia, survivor groups and practitioners, the biogenetic model of madness prevails, shaping our very notions of what madness is, who the mad are and how to respond. This narrow view, at the heart of the psychiatric system, is misinformed, misleading and fraught with tensions between the provision of care and the function of social control. I believe we can, and should, evolve and develop more creative and humane ways to provide support to people in need.

Madness Contested questions how we currently make sense of and respond to madness, and explores alternative and creative ways to understand and support people. It brings together nurses, survivors, psychiatrists, psychologists, practitioners, and service users who discuss and explore these areas. The first section analyses and questions the multiple functions, processes, forms of power and interest at play in maintaining dominant theories and practices. The second section explores alternative conceptualisations of madness, placing emphasis on practice that incorporates openness, modesty and a desire for equality. The book is available from http://  PCCS Books  and Amazon.

If you would like to discuss these issues further, I am on Twitter @Steven_Coles_ or I can be e-mailed on madness.contested@gmail.com or through this blog.

Warm wishes

Steven Coles

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Fagseminar og boklansering

Onsdag 3. april kl. 11.00 -15.00 ønsker Reidun Norvoll, medforfattere og Gyldendal Akademisk deg velkommen til seminar.

Fagseminaret arrangeres i tilknytning til lanseringen av Reidun Norvolls nye fagbok Samfunn og psykisk helse. I boken presenteres sentrale samfunnsvitenskapelige debatter og forskning knyttet til psykisk helse, psykiske lidelser og helse- og sosialtjenestene. Med dette utgangspunktet utdypes temaer som makt, sosial ulikhet, arbeid, migrasjon, styring og organisering, tvang og brukerbevegelsens utvikling. Hensikten er å bidra til et utvidet syn på mennesket og behandlingen i det psykiske helsevesenet, og å øke den kritiske bevisstheten rundt ens eget kunnskapsgrunnlag og ens egen praksis.

Program og påmelding hos forlaget

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