Violence, constraints, and restraint(s) in the locked psychiatric unit:
a constructivist per-spective
David Vogel
New Hampshire Hospital, and Dartmouth Medical School, Department of Psychiatry
(USA)
Abstract
Using interview based research on "assault," by patients and its containment
and prevention by staff as an entry point, I wish to discuss issues of
power, violence and control in psychiatric hos-pitals. This analysis extends
beyond the issues raw power, violence and physical control between staff
and patients. I will address much subtler excercises of power between staff
and patients, and issues of power and communication within the various
groupings and individuals who constitute "staff." While focusing primarily
on case histories, I will try to embed the exploration of these concrete
cases in a context which includes fundamental issues regarding the employment
of con-cepts like "treatment," "mental illness," "rights," and "protection."
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