Madness Disability And Social Exclusion

A unique work that brings together a number of specialist disciplines, such as archaeology, anthropology, disability studies and psychiatry to create a new perspective on social and physical exclusion from society. A range of evidence throws light on such things as the causes and consequences of social exclusion stigma, marginality and dangerousness. It is an important text that breaks down traditional academic disciplinary boundaries and brings a much needed comparative approach to the subject.

A unique work that brings together a number of specialist disciplines, such as archaeology, anthropology, disability studies and psychiatry to create a new perspective on social and physical exclusion from society. A range of evidence throws light on such things as the causes and consequences of social exclusion stigma, marginality and dangerousness. It is an important text that breaks down traditional academic disciplinary boundaries and brings a much needed comparative approach to the subject.

Medical practitioners and the ordinary citizen are becoming more aware that we need to understand cultural variation in medical belief and practice. The more we know how health and disease are managed in different cultures, the more we can recognize what is "culture bound" in our own medical belief and practice. The Encyclopedia of Medical Anthropology is unique because it is the first reference work to describe the cultural practices relevant to health in the world's cultures and to provide an overview of important topics in medical anthropology. No other single reference work comes close to marching the depth and breadth of information on the varying cultural background of health and illness around the world. More than 100 experts - anthropologists and other social scientists - have contributed their firsthand experience of medical cultures from around the world.

This book explores the challenges of applying disability theory and policy, including the social model of disability, to madness and distress. It brings together leading scholars and activists from Europe, North America, Australia and India, to explore the relationship between madness, distress and disability. Whether mental health problems should be viewed as disabilities is a pressing concern, especially since the inclusion of psychosocial disability in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. This book will appeal to policy makers, practitioners, activists and academics.

Emerging Perspectives on Disability Studies brings together up-and-coming scholars whose works expand disability studies into new interdisciplinary contexts. This includes new perspectives on disability identity; historical constructions of (dis)ability; the geography of disability; the spiritual nature of disability; governmentality and disability rights; neurodiversity and challenges to medicalized constructions of autism; and questions of citizenship and participation in political and sexual economies. In sum, this volume uses disability studies as an innovative framework for its investigation into what it means to be human.

From the frontlines of the fight for dignity and appropriate treatment for those struggling with mental health challenges, John Deadman, Sam Sussman, and David Streiner offer a social history of mental illness in Canada and the world that is rich in research, personal experience, scientific knowledge, and challenging truths. Reaching back to ancient times, the authors trace the story of mental health treatment and connect past events to the eventual policy of deinstitutionalization in Canada. As eyewitnesses to the painful fallout of deinstitutionalization, the authors are well-positioned to describe the results of this policy, particularly for the severely mentally ill: incarceration, homelessness, and helplessness. The shocking visibility of these challenges has led to calls for action, but major social institutions, such as government and religious organizations, have been unable to provide lasting solutions. Invisible Insanity: A Social History of Mental Illness in Canada and the World will appeal to mental health professionals, those who suffer from mental illness, family and friends of those who suffer, and members of society as a whole. It’s an issue that touches all of us in some way, and the authors will inspire readers to advocate for comprehensive care that meets the needs of patients and treats them with the dignity and professionalism they deserve.

Over the years, impairment has been discussed in bioarchaeology, with some scholars providing carefully contextualized explanations for their causes and consequences. Such investigations typically take a case study approach and focus on the functional aspects of impairments. However, these interpretations are disconnected from disability theory discourse. Other social sciences and the humanities have far surpassed most of anthropology (with the exception of medical anthropology) in their integration of social theories of disability. This volume has three goals: The first goal of this edited volume is to present theoretical and methodological discussions on impairment and disability. The second goal of this volume is to emphasize the necessity of interdisciplinarity in discussions of impairment and disability within bioarchaeology. The third goal of the volume is to present various methodological approaches to quantifying impairment in skeletonized and mummified remains. This volume serves to engage scholars from many disciplines in our exploration of disability in the past, with particular emphasis on the bioarchaeological context.

This book explores why, after forty years of funded policies of social inclusion, persons living with an intellectual disability are still separated from the social fabric of neoliberal societies. David Treanor shows how the nature of the reform process is driven unnecessarily by the economic neoliberal paradigm, the cultural misconceptions of intellectual disability, and the inattention accorded to personal relationships between persons living with and without an intellectual disability. Treanor utilizes John Macmurray’s personalist philosophy, Julia Kristeva’s ontology of disability and Michele Foucault’s concept of bio-power to explain this phenomenon. The concepts in this book challenge current approaches to social inclusion and have radical implications for future practices.