Paul Buhagiar - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Paul Buhagiar

Despite there being a substantial history of survivors challenging psychiatry, there has been lit... more Despite there being a substantial history of survivors challenging psychiatry, there has been little attention paid to the lives of these individuals. The literature has primarily focussed upon 'recovery' and the development of typologies of emotional distress. Whilst the focus upon people's individual experience is to be welcomed, the literature has tended to background the causes to which survivors have committed part of their lives. The aim of this study was to explore the 'journeys' of survivors into activism to challenge psychiatry. The project drew upon a social constructionist epistemology and narrative theory. Nine interviews were conducted with survivors with a history of involvement in activism. A dialogic/performative analysis was used to explore issues of identity construction amongst the participants. The analysis is presented as 'case studies' in order to try to capture the complexity of each person's narrative. The discussion section then brings each of these narratives together. It is argued that the participants' narratives shared common characteristics and reflected the narratives of the collective of which participants were a part, the wider survivor movement as well as dominant societal narratives. However, the way in which participants drew upon these narratives differed both within and across the accounts. Variations were apparent regarding the ways in which participants' narratives contested psychiatry. A personal and moral construction of activism featured heavily, with participants positioning themselves as both individuals with experience of the psychiatric system and as citizens. This project highlights the need for understandings which take into account the complexity of people's lives, and their wider collective and social context. Recommendations include raising awareness about survivor groups/networks without co-opting their practices. Furthermore, this study attests to the need to take up issues of power and inequality, and their impact on people's lives, in research and clinical practice. 189). This broad definition was deliberately chosen to leave open the means by which people may be attempting to challenge psychiatry. Importantly, the term 'activist' will not be drawn upon. Firstly, in accord with the social constructionist epistemology, this is to avoid simplistic essentialist constructions of people's identities. Secondly, although the term 'activist' is in growing circulation within the survivor literature in the UK (e.g. Campbell, 2008; Wallcraft, 2009), it is not assumed that all individuals will identify with this term and, as such, adopting it might foreclose the ways in which people might understand themselves in relation to their activities. Thirdly, in light of the topic of this research, 'psychiatric system' will be used instead of 'mental health system' and, also, 'distress' will be adopted instead of 'mental distress', 'mental disorder' or 'mental illness', given that the latter terms include assumptions about the 'location' of distress (i.e. the 'mind') and have pathologising connotations (Cromby, 2013; Mental Health Foundation, 2013). In addition, it is important to note that 'psychiatry' refers to the paradigm, or 'narrative', of psychiatry, which is expanded upon below, rather than to individual psychiatrists who work within this paradigm. Lastly, I will also use the first-person to emphasise my active role in the storying of this research at all stages (c.f. Holloway & Wheeler, 2010). Literature Search Strategy A literature review was conducted over a period of 20 months. The full details of this are given in Appendix 1. In summary, an electronic search of key terms was conducted (e.g. 'survivor', 'activism', 'narrative' and 'social movements'), which reflected the interests of this project. The databases searched included Ingenta, PsychINFO, Pubmed, Web of Science and Google Scholar. In addition, references and citations within relevant articles were followed up, as were articles and books recommended by my peers and supervisor.

Despite there being a substantial history of survivors challenging psychiatry, there has been lit... more Despite there being a substantial history of survivors challenging psychiatry, there has been little attention paid to the lives of these individuals. The literature has primarily focussed upon 'recovery' and the development of typologies of emotional distress. Whilst the focus upon people's individual experience is to be welcomed, the literature has tended to background the causes to which survivors have committed part of their lives. The aim of this study was to explore the 'journeys' of survivors into activism to challenge psychiatry. The project drew upon a social constructionist epistemology and narrative theory. Nine interviews were conducted with survivors with a history of involvement in activism. A dialogic/performative analysis was used to explore issues of identity construction amongst the participants. The analysis is presented as 'case studies' in order to try to capture the complexity of each person's narrative. The discussion section then brings each of these narratives together. It is argued that the participants' narratives shared common characteristics and reflected the narratives of the collective of which participants were a part, the wider survivor movement as well as dominant societal narratives. However, the way in which participants drew upon these narratives differed both within and across the accounts. Variations were apparent regarding the ways in which participants' narratives contested psychiatry. A personal and moral construction of activism featured heavily, with participants positioning themselves as both individuals with experience of the psychiatric system and as citizens. This project highlights the need for understandings which take into account the complexity of people's lives, and their wider collective and social context. Recommendations include raising awareness about survivor groups/networks without co-opting their practices. Furthermore, this study attests to the need to take up issues of power and inequality, and their impact on people's lives, in research and clinical practice. 189). This broad definition was deliberately chosen to leave open the means by which people may be attempting to challenge psychiatry. Importantly, the term 'activist' will not be drawn upon. Firstly, in accord with the social constructionist epistemology, this is to avoid simplistic essentialist constructions of people's identities. Secondly, although the term 'activist' is in growing circulation within the survivor literature in the UK (e.g. Campbell, 2008; Wallcraft, 2009), it is not assumed that all individuals will identify with this term and, as such, adopting it might foreclose the ways in which people might understand themselves in relation to their activities. Thirdly, in light of the topic of this research, 'psychiatric system' will be used instead of 'mental health system' and, also, 'distress' will be adopted instead of 'mental distress', 'mental disorder' or 'mental illness', given that the latter terms include assumptions about the 'location' of distress (i.e. the 'mind') and have pathologising connotations (Cromby, 2013; Mental Health Foundation, 2013). In addition, it is important to note that 'psychiatry' refers to the paradigm, or 'narrative', of psychiatry, which is expanded upon below, rather than to individual psychiatrists who work within this paradigm. Lastly, I will also use the first-person to emphasise my active role in the storying of this research at all stages (c.f. Holloway & Wheeler, 2010). Literature Search Strategy A literature review was conducted over a period of 20 months. The full details of this are given in Appendix 1. In summary, an electronic search of key terms was conducted (e.g. 'survivor', 'activism', 'narrative' and 'social movements'), which reflected the interests of this project. The databases searched included Ingenta, PsychINFO, Pubmed, Web of Science and Google Scholar. In addition, references and citations within relevant articles were followed up, as were articles and books recommended by my peers and supervisor.