Bridging the social and life sciences to unlock the mystery of how cities shape mental health and illness Most of the world's people now live in cities and millions have moved from the countryside to the rapidly growing megacities of the global south. How does the urban experience shape the mental lives of those living in and moving to cities today? Sociologists study cities as centers of personal progress and social innovation, but also exclusion, racism, and inequality. Psychiatrists try to explain the high rates of mental disorders among urban dwellers, especially migrants. But the split between the social and life sciences has hindered understanding of how urban experience is written into the bodies and brains of urbanites. In The Urban Brain, Nikolas Rose and Des Fitzgerald seek to revive the collaboration between sociology and psychiatry about these critical questions. Reexamining the relationship between the city and the brain, Rose and Fitzgerald explore the ways cities shape the mental health and illness of those who inhabit them. Drawing on the social and life sciences, The Urban Brain takes an ecosocial approach to the vital city, in which humans live and thrive but too often get sick and suffer. The result demonstrates what we can gain by a vitalist approach to the mental lives of those migrating to and living in cities, focusing on the ways that humans make, remake, and inhabit their urban lifeworlds.

'One of the non-fiction books of the year.' Andrew O' Hagan A powerful, evocative and deeply personal journey into the world of missing people When Francisco Garcia was just seven years old, his father, Christobal, left his family. Unemployed, addicted to drink and drugs, and adrift in life, Christobal decided he would rather disappear altogether than carry on dealing with the problems in front of him. So that's what he did, leaving his young wife and child in the dead of night. He has been missing ever since. Twenty years on, Francisco is ready to take up the search for answers. Why did this happen and how could it be possible? Where might his father have gone? And is there any reason to hope for a happy reunion? During his journey, which takes him all across Britain and back to his father's homeland of Spain, Francisco tells the stories of those he meets along the way: the police investigators; the charity employees and volunteers; the once missing and those perilously at risk around us; the families, friends and all those left behind. If You Were There is the moving and affecting story of one man's search for his lost family, an urgent document of where we are now and a powerful, timeless reminder of our responsibility to others.

With 1 in 4 people experiencing a mental health problem in any given year, mental health is a more important part of social work training than ever before, and all successful social workers need to understand the core values, skills and knowledge that underpin excellent practice in a modern mental health system. Written as an accessible introduction to the complex issues around mental health, this book has become a classic in its field. Law and policy are clearly outlined while the authors give space to important ethical considerations when working with the most vulnerable in society. There are clear links between policy, legislation and real life practice as well as a wealth of learning features.

In 2015 the landmark suicide of the 100th woman to kill herself in prison custody passed largely unnoticed. This book by two experts set out to redress the balance by examining all aspects of the history, present practices, causes and prevention prospects connected to this tragic chain of events. A long overdue analysis of a subject that is at last beginning to receive enhanced scrutiny. Focuses on both women and adolescent girls in custody. Looks at psychological, demographic, environmental and clinical factors. The first book of its kind.

In this groundbreaking book, Jill Harshaw explores the spiritual experiences of people with profound intellectual disabilities with regard to their capacity to enjoy life-giving spiritual experiences in their own right. The author expertly argues that our thinking of spiritual life needs to start not with our assumptions about people who are unable to speak for themselves, but with what we can know about God. Stimulating a much-needed discussion, this book explains why we need to respect individuals with profound intellectual disabilities as spiritual persons, and stop seeing them simply as care-receivers or uncomfortable reminders of human vulnerability. Calling for a more critical approach in practical theology, this book invites a deeper, genuinely inter-disciplinary dialogue between new and traditional theological fields, and asks why, after more than 30 years of intellectual disability theology, the impact on church life remains minimal so that debates around the right to basic inclusion continue to dominate. The questions raised in this book not only move the discussion forward, but will spark a change on how the Church approaches inclusiveness.

Combatting mental health stigma and discrimination has moved from a radical idea in the 1990s to mainstream policy today. However, there are huge questions about how to do it effectively, and the journey to get equal life chances is still a long one. As part of the Foundations of Mental Health Practice series, this book explores these important questions and considers the solutions. It pulls together ground-breaking examples and the latest research evidence to argue for a compelling new theory and agenda for social change to promote equality and citizenship. Accessibly written, it demonstrates how mental health practitioners of all disciplines can stand alongside individuals with lived experience and their organisations to challenge discrimination and participate in all aspects of the community. It also addresses the role of families, friends and those with a policy, campaigning or legal interest. Completely up to date, it draws on new research and interviews, as well as the author's 30 years of experience working in the field. With chapter summaries, further reading and reflective exercises, this book offers support for research and practice, making it an essential and important read for any student or practitioner in the field who advocates equality, and for people with lived experience, families, friends and campaigners.

In the UK it is estimated that a third of patients in mental health services have a substance abuse problem, and that half of patients in drug and alcohol services have a mental health problem. Part of Palgrave's Foundations of Mental Health series, this book explores the intertwined issues of substance use and mental health as a social phenomenon and offers a critical, informative guide to understanding dual diagnosis. Written by authors with extensive experience within mental health and drug treatment services, Working with Dual Diagnosis explores areas that are key to understanding the relationship between the two, including: - Models for understanding substance use, mental health and the correlation of complex social and psychological factors - Treatment processes for working with individuals, groups and families and within a community setting - The historical social, political, economic and legislative context of mental health and substance use - Practice implications for dual diagnosis, including how practitioners can work with and promote better treatment, after care and support for those experiencing dual diagnosis issues. Enriched with reflective exercises, case studies and key points, this book will inform all work related to dual diagnosis populations within health, social and criminal justice service, and is an essential text for social work, nursing, occupational therapy and probation students.

Mental health is the one area of health care where people are often treated against their will, with the justification that it is in their own interest. This raises significant ethical questions and value dilemmas; questions of autonomy, human rights, power and treatment. An understanding of how values matter is of vital importance across all disciplines working within the mental health field. This book provides a comprehensive and exploratory text for practitioners, students and all those interested in developing a knowledge of both ethics and the wider framework of values-based practice. It is unique in being fully co-written by authors representing both service user and service provider perspectives. This exciting new text will enable the mental health practitioner to work more co-productively with service users within a humane and just approach to care. With an emphasis on rights-based compassionate care throughout, this book: - Tackles the issues of how mental health is understood through key theoretical debates about mental distress, values and labelling; - Encourages readers to think critically about their understanding of key issues such as recovery, autonomy, power, knowledge, diagnoses and empathy; - Draws on a wide range of case examples and exercises to help readers deepen their knowledge of values-based practice and ethics in mental health.

Advocating for dementia for 20 years, Christine Bryden has been instrumental in ensuring that people with dementia are included in discussions about the condition and how to manage and think about it. This collection of her hard-hitting and inspiring insider presentations demands 'nothing about us, without us!' and promotes self-advocacy and self-reflection. Provocative and insightful, the pieces included in the book address issues that demand attention, and will change the way dementia is perceived, and the lives of people with dementia and their families.

This highly regarded book offers a clear and considered guide to modern mental health policy and practice. Building on the success of previous editions, this third edition provides: * An up-to-date overview of the changes to mental health policy and practice as they apply to a broad range of mental health services, from primary care and forensic mental health issues * A focus on mental health specific issues in the context of broader health and social care reforms, including the reform of primary care, the impact of austerity and the personalisation agenda * A greater exploration of what interagency working means: it goes beyond issues with health and social services and explores the everyday services that are essential to everyone * A range of case studies, reflection and analyses, followed by engaging exercises and suggestions for further reading. This book is designed for students of social work, social policy, nursing and health taking courses on mental health policy and practice. It also serves as an important update for practitioners in the field.

John Porter's landmark study of social and ethnic inequality, The Vertical Mosaic, became an instant classic when it was first published in 1965. A national best seller that sold more than 100,000 copies, the book was the first major study of Canada's class structure and one of the foundational texts in Canadian sociology. Sociologist Irving Louis Horowitz described it as "the sociological study of present-day Canada." Fifty years later, the book retains vast significance both for its powerful critique of social exclusivity in a country that prides itself on equality and diversity and for its influence on generations of sociological researchers. The 50th Anniversary Edition features new material which contextualizes the legacy of this important book: a foreword by Porter's colleague, Wallace Clement, and his biographer, Rick Helmes-Hayes, and a new introductory essay by historian Jack Jedwab and sociologist Vic Satzewich.

African American women have commonly been portrayed as "pillars" of their communities -- resilient mothers, sisters, wives, and grandmothers who remain steadfast in the face of all adversities. While these portrayals imply that African American women have few psychological problems, the scientific literature and demographic data present a different picture. They reveal that African American women are at increased risk for psychological distress because of factors that disproportionately affect them, including lower incomes, greater poverty and unemployment, unmarried motherhood, racism, and poor physical health. Yet at the same time, rates of mental illness are low. This invaluable book is the first comprehensive examination of the contradictions between the strengths and vulnerabilities of this population. Using the contexts of race, gender, and social class, "In and Out of Our Right Minds" challenges the traditional notions of mental health and mental illness as they apply to African American women.

Social support is the everyday assistance offered by family, friends, neighbours and colleagues, as well as the foundations of support in a range of non-clinical settings, and plays a vital role in a person's mental health and wellbeing. This book examines the nature of social support and offers a practical approach to how it can be enhanced. Focusing on the relationships between service users and supporters , it examines service users' experiences of issues of identity, stigma, social exclusion and social networks. Individual chapters look in depth at how social support is enacted in close relationships, educational institutions and in the world of employment. The nature of 'community' is explored with particular reference to how service users can be supported into greater engagement with social networks. Demonstrating the importance of social perspectives on mental health, this book is essential reading for practitioners, students and educators in mental health, social and community work, community mental health nursing and occupational therapy.

This book is part of the highly successful Transforming Social Work Practice series and is written specifically to support students on the social work degree. Full of practical activities, case studies and opportunities for students to critically reflect and explore theory and practice.

Current practice in the field was driven by the government White Paper 'Valuing People' (2001) which declared some radical aims for services with people with learning difficulties. Now somewhat compromised by the local authority austerity measures, the goals set by 'Valuing People' are nevertheless still important. This third edition seeks to confirm and strenghten social work values and priciples so that the progress and successes achieved by 'Valuing People' can continue. Case studies and activities draw out the key points and reinforce learning. Summaries of contemporary research are included, as are suggestions for further reading and coverage of current government guidance and policy documents.

By examining the varied roles that a social worker might undertake in this field, the authors portray a positive picture of working with people with learning difficulties: the achievements and satisfaction, and the learning and understanding that can be gained. They also highlight the need for recognition of vulnerability, the risk of isolation, oppression and abuse, and the continuing political struggle to establish and protect the rights of the individual.

Paul Williams has over 40 years' experience of working with people with learning difficulties. He was a founder member of the organisation 'Values into Action' which campaigned for rights, inclusion and community-based services for people with learning difficulties. He is co-author of books on self-advocacy and anti-oppressive practice. A former lecturer in social work at the University of Reading, he is now retired.

Michelle Evans has 14 years of practice in all areas of sensory need, including Deaf/deafness, visual impairment and Deafblindness. She has a first class honours degree in social work and has worked as a care manager in adult services and a social worker in children's services. She has a particular interest in methods of social research which contribute to raising sensory awareness in social work/ care management. She lectures social work students at London South Bank University and develops and delivers sensory awareness training to practitioners and managers.

This practical book enables those already practicing or joining social work to consider the various ways that people can be supported to live well with dementia. Areas focused on include how the personalisation agenda is changing services through self-directed support, re-enablement and telecare, how risk can be managed while choice and independence are maintained, and how safeguarding of people with dementia can be positively practiced. The authors present information on essential new developments in the field of dementia care, including changes in legislation and Government policy as well as providing examples of positive practice from around the country.

This best-selling book explores the crucial role of social workers in securing a better future for vulnerable and disadvantaged adult service users. Tacking the problems most common to this branch of social work it focuses on four major themes: personalization; mental health; substance use; and old age. Edited by the highly respected Martin Davies, and with contributions from some of the leading names in the field, Social Work with Adults provides a clear map and guidance to help navigate between the different elements of social work knowledge and practice. Whether a student on an undergraduate degree taking a module on working with adults or a qualified professional wanting to ensure they are proving the very best service they can, this is essential reading. The breadth and depth of coverage makes this text a perfect handbook for students of adult social work.

Mental health services tend to view and treat mental health problems in an individual-centric way. This book argues for an alternative route to recovery that is cognizant of our social nature, needs and difficulties. Focusing on the therapeutic value of meeting others with similar experiences, it explores how mutual support can help ease the distress of mental health problems and foster emotional and psychological wellbeing. The author provides an overview of the theory, history and processes of mutual support, including how it can be understood from a developmental perspective and its importance in normalising and validating experiences and lessening feelings of isolation. She provides in-depth summaries of various approaches that harness mutual support including group therapy and therapeutic communities. Clear guidance is given on how to access, set up and facilitate mutual support groups, along with detailed information on services and organisations that utilise mutual support in the UK and beyond. This book will provide both mental health professionals and those experiencing mental health difficulties with essential information on mutual support, and the positive impact it can have on people's lives.

This book draws on both the historical context and contemporary research evidence in the UK, to present the roles of Mental Health Social Work, the Approved Mental Health Practitioner, and Best Interest Assessor within an ethical framework. Codes of practice and statutory legal requirements, such as the UK's Mental Health Act, Mental Capacity Act, and the Human Rights Act, are all considered and linked to a competency based approach that will assist both those in training and those in practice to understand the dilemmas, complexities, and conflicts that are evident in the practice environment.

*Highly Commended in the Psychiatry Category of the 2011 BMA Book Awards* Working with Suicidal Individuals provides a comprehensive guide to understanding suicide, the assessment of risk, and the treatment and management of suicidal individuals. It begins by covering the theory behind suicidal behaviour, using Transactional Analysis to explore the personality types of suicidal individuals and to understand their motivations. Factors that contribute to an individual becoming suicidal, such as mental illness, are also explored. A comprehensive system for the assessment of suicide risk is provided, including both quantitative and qualitative approaches. Finally, the author discusses different ways suicidal and pseudo-suicidal individuals can be managed and treated, including the 'no suicide contract' and redecision therapy. Case studies are included throughout to demonstrate the theory and practice. This book will be essential reading for all those working with a suicidal or at-risk individual, including practitioners in health, social work, psychotherapy, psychology and counselling.

The Problem-Specific Guides series summarise knowledge about how police can reduce the harm caused by specific crime and disorder problems. They are guides to prevention and to improving the overall response to incidents, not to investigating offences or handling specific incidents. Problems associated with people with mental illness pose a significant challenge for modern policing. This book begins by describing the problem and reviewing factors that increase the challenges that police face in relation to the mentally ill. It then identifies a series of questions that might help one analyse local policing problems associated with people with mental illness. Finally, it reviews responses to the problems and what we know about them from evaluative research and police practice. It is important to recognise that mental illness is not, in itself, a police problem. Obviously, it is a medical and social services problem. However, a number of the problems caused by or associated with people with mental illness often do become police problems. This book consists of public documents which have been located, gathered, combined, reformatted, and enhanced with a subject index, selectively edited and bound to provide easy access.

The integration of services has been NHS policy for a number of years, but how successfully has it been achieved? This book explores the issues from a social care perspective and examines changes in practice so far, particularly progress towards the overall aim of improving the experience of the service user and achieving seamless services .

The clash between medically-driven and socially-driven approaches has long been discussed and the book considers whether these two approaches have now been reconciled, or whether the reality of modern service provision continues to create a range of power struggles and demoralization among the professional groups."

More people die by suicide each year than by homicide, wars, and terrorist attacks combined. Witnesses and survivors are left perplexed and troubled. Doctors, clinical psychologists, and social workers try to deal with it through their professional routines; sociologists and psychiatrists attempt to provide theoretical explanations of it. In a study of nearly 7000 suicides from 1900 to 1950 in New Zealand and Queensland, Australia, John Weaver documents the challenges that ordinary people experienced during turbulent times and, using witnesses' testimony, death bed statements, and suicide notes, reconstructs individuals' thoughts as they decide whether to endure their suffering. Bridging social and medical history, Weaver presents an intellectual and political history of suicide studies, a revealing construction and deconstruction of suicide rates, a discussion of gender, life stages, and socio-economic circumstances in relation to suicide patterns, reflections on reasoning processes and intent, and society's reactions to suicide, including medical intervention. A Sadly Troubled History marshals thousands of suicide inquests, replete with observations on the anxieties of unemployment, the heartbreak of romantic disappointment, the pain of domestic turmoil, and the torments of mental illness, to demonstrate that history - although, like biochemistry, sociology, psychology, and psychiatry, reliant on remarkable yet imperfect information - can contribute to a better understanding of the suicidal act and its motives.

In some countries, they call them the "abandonados," the abandoned ones. They're the impoverished mentally ill and mentally disabled patients being warehoused in psychiatric asylums that are more run-down, more uncaring than the most brutal American prisons. Confined in cage-like cells, tied to beds soiled with human waste, medicated to the point of senselessness, or wandering naked in unheated and garage-like wards, they live in what can only be called the shadows, their plight unseen and too easily ignored by the rest of the human family.

Working first as a journalist, later as a volunteer for the human rights organization Mental Disability Rights International, photographer Eugene Richards gained access to psychiatric institutions in Mexico, Argentina, Armenia, Hungary, Paraguay, and Kosovo. His wrenchingly intimate images reveal the often inhumane treatment suffered by the mentally disabled. Offered little that would qualify as effective care, patients are denied even the most basic human amenities: privacy, protection from harm, clean clothing. Accompanying the book, A Procession of Them, is a DVD of a short film of the same name. Directed and narrated by Richards, this unique and expressionistic film speaks of the chaos, claustrophobia, and loneliness of these living hells.

Making us face some hard truths, A Procession of Them drives home the point that when it comes to the plight of the mentally disabled, "no one much cares." As Richards concludes, it's "as if there is a kind of worldwide agreement that once people are classified as mentally ill or mentally retarded, you're free to do to them what you want."

This new edition of Mental Health in a Multi-Ethnic Society is an authoritative, comprehensive guide on issues around race, culture and mental health service provision. It has been updated to reflect the changes in the UK over the last ten years and features entirely new chapters by over twenty authors, expanding the range of topics by including issues of particular concern for women, family therapy, and mental health of refugees and asylum seekers. Divided into four sections the book covers: issues around mental health service provision for black and minority ethnic (BME) communities including refugees and asylum seekers critical accounts of how these issues may be confronted, with examples of projects that attempt to do just that programs and innovative services that appear to meet some of the needs of BME communities a critical but constructive account of lessons to be drawn from earlier sections and discussion of the way ahead. With chapters on training, service user involvement, policy development and service provision Mental Health in a Multi-Ethnic Society will appeal to academics, professionals, trainers and managers, as well as providing up-to-date information for a general readership.