Kevin McCabe, Rosie Summerton and Hester Parr
Arts can make an important contribution to the social inclusion of marginalised groups such as those with mental health problems. In this article three different voices ‐ those of…
Abstract
Arts can make an important contribution to the social inclusion of marginalised groups such as those with mental health problems. In this article three different voices ‐ those of the arts project user and artist, the project manager and artist, and the academic ‐ explain from their varying perspectives what this contribution may be, and how it operates. By enabling cultural citizenship, the arts provide a means for people who would otherwise remain on the margins of their communities to participate in public life and inhabit mainstream social spaces.
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There is a long association between the arts and mental well‐being, but this can also be an area of contest and debate. In this commentary on the issues raised by the papers in…
Abstract
There is a long association between the arts and mental well‐being, but this can also be an area of contest and debate. In this commentary on the issues raised by the papers in this special arts and mental well‐being issue of the journal, James Oliver and Paul Murray question the attempt to impose scientific measures of outcome on arts participation, and ask if we should not, instead, regard access to opportunities for creative expression as a legal right and moral duty owing to those whom we, as a society, have excluded from the mainstream through incarceration or labelling.
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Start Manchester is an arts‐based, face‐to‐face mental health service within the emergent field of arts in mental health. This article describes its work and demonstrates how it…
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Start Manchester is an arts‐based, face‐to‐face mental health service within the emergent field of arts in mental health. This article describes its work and demonstrates how it uses art in a health‐focused way. While the article refers to some of the literature that explores how and why the experience of art can be beneficial to mental health, it is explicitly written from a practitioner perspective. As such, it foregrounds the thoughts/feelings of the service users (referred to throughout as students) about their engagement with the project, in order to refine our understandings of the links between creative practices and mental health.
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John Tsiantis, Marjorie Smith, Thalia Dragonas and Antony Cox
The paper presents results from the implementation and evaluation of a EU/WHO multi‐centre programme on the promotion of children's psychosocial development through primary health…
Abstract
The paper presents results from the implementation and evaluation of a EU/WHO multi‐centre programme on the promotion of children's psychosocial development through primary health care services. The aims of the study were to develop methods for use by primary health care workers in their contact with families on issues pertaining to healthy psychosocial development in the first two years of life, to develop a training programme for primary health care workers to implement in their contact with the families, to evaluate the effectiveness of the programme and to promote the implementation of the developed intervention techniques through the network of primary health care services.
Catherine Rachel Heinemeyer and Nick Rowe
The purpose of this paper is to reach beyond existing research into the mental health benefits of arts-based or educational opportunities, to discover the particular impact on…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to reach beyond existing research into the mental health benefits of arts-based or educational opportunities, to discover the particular impact on members’ recovery processes of being part of a committed, long-term troupe or community – specifically focussing on specialist theatre companies.
Design/methodology/approach
Following a literature review investigating the growing number of theatre troupes for mental health service users, qualitative research was conducted into one such company. In-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with six company members. Thematic analysis of interview transcripts was then cross-checked and enriched through a group interview with six other members.
Findings
Two overarching themes emerged: the importance of “being known” within the company (key sub-themes included “intuitive democracy” and the “paradox of reliability”), and the ways in which individuals “branched out” from this secure basis into artistic, professional and voluntary roles, while remaining company members.
Research limitations/implications
The findings from this small-scale study, while not necessarily generalisable to other long-term communities of care and learning with a “troupe” or “team” structure, would provide valuable starting points for a larger-scale investigation.
Practical implications
If generalisable, institutions in the mental health and educational worlds should place more emphasis on developing and resourcing long-term models of support.
Social implications
The specialist theatre company model contrasts with prevalent individualised, time-limited services for those experiencing mental ill health.
Originality/value
The study provides compelling narrative evidence to amplify understanding of how “connectedness” is experienced within a troupe, and may enable individuals with mental illnesses to progress further in their recovery journey.
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Disabled women are reported to be between twice and five times more likely to experience sexual violence than non-disabled women or disabled men; when these are hate crimes they…
Abstract
Background
Disabled women are reported to be between twice and five times more likely to experience sexual violence than non-disabled women or disabled men; when these are hate crimes they compound harms for both victims and communities.
Purpose
This user-led research explores how disabled and Deaf victims and Survivors most effectively resist the harm and injustice they experience after experiencing disablist hate crime involving rape.
Design/methodology/approach
Feminist standpoint methods are employed with reciprocity as central. This small-scale peer research was undertaken with University ethics and supervision over a five year period. Subjects (n=522) consisted of disabled and Deaf victims and Survivors in North of England.
Findings
The intersectional nature of violence against disabled women unsettles constructed macro binaries of public/private space violence and the location of disabled women as inherently vulnerable. Findings demonstrate how seizing collective identity can usefully resist re-victimization, tackle the harms after disablist hate crime involving rape and resist the homogenization of both women and disabled people.
Practical implications
The chapter outlines inequalities in disabled people’s human rights and recommends service and policy improvements, as well as informing methods for conducting ethical research.
Originality/value
This is perhaps the first user-led, social model based feminist standpoint research to explore the collective resistance to harm after experiencing disablist hate crime involving rape. It crossed impairment boundaries and included community living, segregated institutions and women who rely on perpetrators for personal assistance. It offers new evidence of how disabled and Deaf victims and Survivors can collectively unsettle the harms of disablist hate crime and rape and achieve justice and safety on a micro level.
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To provide a list of non‐fictional books, as published, for the use of Librarians and Book‐buyers generally, arranged so as to serve as a continuous catalogue of new books; an aid…
Abstract
To provide a list of non‐fictional books, as published, for the use of Librarians and Book‐buyers generally, arranged so as to serve as a continuous catalogue of new books; an aid to exact classification and annotation ; and a select list of new books proposed to be purchased. Novels, school books, ordinary reprints and strictly official publications will not be included in the meantime.
THE College of Librarianship is best considered on its own terms, as an institution unique in the history and present pattern of British library education, but its significance…
Abstract
THE College of Librarianship is best considered on its own terms, as an institution unique in the history and present pattern of British library education, but its significance and probable future development can best be assessed if two external factors are kept in mind.