Abstract
In Critical Inquiries for Social Justice in Mental Health, the editors have gathered a collection of articles on mental health issues that approach the topics with a critical lens. These articles focus on social justice and intersectionality, drawing on the work of the Centre of the Study of Gender, Social Inequities, and Mental Health. The authors of the articles in this collection have the stated goal of applying critical theories to knowledge production in mental health as a way to move practice to a social justice orientation.
The editors of the volume set themselves a lofty goal of constructing “counterknowledge” in the field of mental health, and they achieve this goal by including a number of very strong articles which address mental health constructs used within biomedical sciences that serve to reinforce and recreate existing social hierarchies within society. The critical lens through which the myriad authors approach the subject of mental health/illness and its construction serves to uncover structural inequalities that are maintained and sometimes created through these definitions.
Part 1 explores social justice theorizing in the field of mental health. The authors explore the field of Mad studies, which seeks to understand how marginalized groups of people have been harmed by existing definitions of mental illness. The authors also seek to construct a lens of social justice research in mental health through the inclusion of intersectionality as a research paradigm, as a way to have meaningful inclusion of multiple voices in seeking health equity. Finally, the impacts of colonization on mental health and the field of psychiatry are explored.
Part 2 seeks to deconstruct colonization in research and practice in mental health. The section begins with mental health in Africa, moving to a framework that addresses mental health from a human rights perspective. Other authors explore decolonization in the context of Canada from the perspectives of an indigenous woman and a mixed woman of color. Finally, the voices of indigenous youth are explored through a participatory action research project.
Part 3 explores the gendered nature of mental health discourses and the power of discourses in general. The first article explores the concept of PMS and its role in women’s mental health. Next, depression in workplaces is explored. In workplaces, the discussion of depression is usually directed toward women and is framed as an individual rather than a structural problem. Finally, in one of my favorite articles in the collection, Tosh explores gender nonconformity and how psychiatry pathologizes gender diversity.
In Part 4, media is explored as a site of social injustice. My other favorite article in the collection begins this section with an exploration of gynecomastia and transsexuality, through the medium of online forums, again focusing on the voices of the marginalized persons who are impacted by mental health diagnoses. The other articles in this section consider prevalence in mental health discourse, noting that the use of a discourse of prevalence in itself impacts how people view mental illness. This section ends with an analysis of mental illness in television programming and educational films.
The final section of this collection is devoted to finding ways to reconstruct research practices, so that they are more able to meet intersectionality-informed goals. In effect, this important section attempts to answer the question of how researchers can move forward in social justice praxis. Although all of the articles are illuminating, the final article effectively pulls the text together in its presentation of an “intersectionality approach to resilience research” (p. 443). The authors propose a framework for doing research which: 1) incorporate(s) historical and structural analysis; 2) foreground(s) interlocking systems of domination; 3) affirm(s) resistance; 4) centre(s) in the margins; and 5) engage(s) in self-reflexive praxis. (p. 445)
The authors accomplished the goals they set out for themselves in creating this book. This collection highlights the importance of epistemology and who gets to define knowledge, and it questions the structural assumptions that most of us take for granted, showing us how they are flawed and how they serve to continue to oppress those who are already struggling. The proposed research framework adds important elements to these discussions which are required if our research is to help achieve social justice for all.
As such, I’d love to see this text included in the graduate curriculum of psychiatry, health-care administration, and medical fields as a way to encourage deeper thinking about the impacts of these systems on those whom they are designed to serve. I want these voices to be in the minds of people who make choices for others, niggling away at them as they make decisions that will impact those with less power.