Abstract
Abstract
The present dissertation undertakes a study of recovery-oriented practices in the Danish Psychiatric psykosocial rehabilitation; an approach to practice where the professional systems of care base their work with clients or patients on the assumption, that recovery is possible for and can be reached by any person. The recovery-oriented theory regards any subject as the core actor in his or her own recovery process, wherefore professionals in the field should act in a role of motivators or coaches, rather than consultants or experts.
The recovery-oriented theory has been widely criticized based on scepticism regarding the capacity of individuals to take on such as core role to recover from a mental disorder or other psychiatric ailments.
This dissertation is based upon this criticism of the individual-based recovery-orientation, which according to the current literature is predominant in present day practice. The dissertation aims at examining the potentials and limitations of recovery-orientation in a context of practice, and is thus concerned with the question:
Which limitations and potentials emerge for recovery-orientation, when the applications of the the-ory are investigated in contexts where the theory is applied to practice?
The dissertation is based in critical psychology and theories of social practice. The investigation undertaken is based on an empirical inquiry into the practices at a resident establishment for young people with mental disabilities. The empirical data gathered consists of interviews with the residents and recordings from institutional staff meetings at the establishment.
The analyses presented in the dissertation are from in-depth studies of two select cases with resi-dents of the establishment. Two theoretical approaches are applied to each case; analysis based on fundamental concepts taken from recovery-orientation, and analysis based on fundamental concepts taken from critical psychology. This approach serves to provide an idealized level, as well as a prac-tice level of understanding for the case studies, whereby it becomes possible to identify the dynam-ics of gaps, connections, or conflicts between the applied theories in a context of practice.
The dissertation aims at using the results from this double-tiered analytical approach as indicators for identifying limitations and potentials of recovery-orientation in a context of practice, as well as for identifying suggestions for improving and developing such practice.
4
The analyses of the empirical data presented serve to identify limitations, as well as potentials for practice based upon recovery-orientation. The approach from critical psychology supports that the concepts of recovery-orientation lack sufficiency in respect of certain categories within the field of social psychiatry, such as drug or alcohol abuse, where the professional staff find it difficult to maintain a fully recovery-oriented approach. The analyses suggest that the difficulties stem from a range of inherent limitations in the fundamental concepts of recovery-orientation.
The primary conclusion derived from the analyses is, that recovery-orientation cannot stand alone, but needs to be combined with other theoretical concepts and approaches. It is argued that an em-phasis on context will provide a wider range of ideas and possible actions for a practice aiming to-wards development of possibilities of subjects diagnosed with psychiatric problems.
In a contextual approach the young subject's participation can be regarded as a part of a collabora-tive process, where changes in the surroundings and environment can be included as crucial factors for supporting the individual as an active participant.
The possibility of benefitting from such a wider range of possible actions calls for an improved sit-uated and contextual understanding of the young subject's own capacity and capability for an ac-tively participating role, as well as an improved awareness of understanding and possibly act to-wards altering factors in the subject's environment and surroundings.
The present dissertation undertakes a study of recovery-oriented practices in the Danish Psychiatric psykosocial rehabilitation; an approach to practice where the professional systems of care base their work with clients or patients on the assumption, that recovery is possible for and can be reached by any person. The recovery-oriented theory regards any subject as the core actor in his or her own recovery process, wherefore professionals in the field should act in a role of motivators or coaches, rather than consultants or experts.
The recovery-oriented theory has been widely criticized based on scepticism regarding the capacity of individuals to take on such as core role to recover from a mental disorder or other psychiatric ailments.
This dissertation is based upon this criticism of the individual-based recovery-orientation, which according to the current literature is predominant in present day practice. The dissertation aims at examining the potentials and limitations of recovery-orientation in a context of practice, and is thus concerned with the question:
Which limitations and potentials emerge for recovery-orientation, when the applications of the the-ory are investigated in contexts where the theory is applied to practice?
The dissertation is based in critical psychology and theories of social practice. The investigation undertaken is based on an empirical inquiry into the practices at a resident establishment for young people with mental disabilities. The empirical data gathered consists of interviews with the residents and recordings from institutional staff meetings at the establishment.
The analyses presented in the dissertation are from in-depth studies of two select cases with resi-dents of the establishment. Two theoretical approaches are applied to each case; analysis based on fundamental concepts taken from recovery-orientation, and analysis based on fundamental concepts taken from critical psychology. This approach serves to provide an idealized level, as well as a prac-tice level of understanding for the case studies, whereby it becomes possible to identify the dynam-ics of gaps, connections, or conflicts between the applied theories in a context of practice.
The dissertation aims at using the results from this double-tiered analytical approach as indicators for identifying limitations and potentials of recovery-orientation in a context of practice, as well as for identifying suggestions for improving and developing such practice.
4
The analyses of the empirical data presented serve to identify limitations, as well as potentials for practice based upon recovery-orientation. The approach from critical psychology supports that the concepts of recovery-orientation lack sufficiency in respect of certain categories within the field of social psychiatry, such as drug or alcohol abuse, where the professional staff find it difficult to maintain a fully recovery-oriented approach. The analyses suggest that the difficulties stem from a range of inherent limitations in the fundamental concepts of recovery-orientation.
The primary conclusion derived from the analyses is, that recovery-orientation cannot stand alone, but needs to be combined with other theoretical concepts and approaches. It is argued that an em-phasis on context will provide a wider range of ideas and possible actions for a practice aiming to-wards development of possibilities of subjects diagnosed with psychiatric problems.
In a contextual approach the young subject's participation can be regarded as a part of a collabora-tive process, where changes in the surroundings and environment can be included as crucial factors for supporting the individual as an active participant.
The possibility of benefitting from such a wider range of possible actions calls for an improved sit-uated and contextual understanding of the young subject's own capacity and capability for an ac-tively participating role, as well as an improved awareness of understanding and possibly act to-wards altering factors in the subject's environment and surroundings.
| Originalsprog | Dansk |
|---|---|
| Status | Udgivet - 13 mar. 2013 |
Emneord
- socialpsykiatri
- aktionsforskning