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Psychiatric "survivors" and testimonies of self-harm

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  • Cresswell, Mark

Abstract

UK "Psychiatric Survivors"--a variety of activist groups comprising individuals who have been on the "receiving end" of psychiatric treatment--have, since the mid-1980s, mounted a challenge to the psychiatric system. "Survivors" have formulated their own knowledge-base concerning a range of human problems hitherto regarded as the province of "official" psychiatry only. "Official" knowledge stresses scientific classification, professional expertise, and statistical evidence: "Survivor" knowledge, by contrast, emphasises individual experience, the traumas of the life-course, and the personal testimony of the survivor as itself expert data. This paper focuses upon the truth-claims enacted by the "testimony of the survivor" and the relation of "testimony" to political practice. Specifically, I analyse a key text containing the testimonies of female survivors whose behaviour has been officially labelled as "deliberate self-harm"; that is, women who harm themselves, through self-poisoning or self-laceration, and subsequently receive medical/psychiatric treatment. The main focus is upon the political functions of testimony in theory and practice--the ways in which "survivors" challenge the power of psychiatry.

Suggested Citation

  • Cresswell, Mark, 2005. "Psychiatric "survivors" and testimonies of self-harm," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 61(8), pages 1668-1677, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:61:y:2005:i:8:p:1668-1677
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    Cited by:

    1. Pescosolido, Bernice A. & Martin, Jack K. & Lang, Annie & Olafsdottir, Sigrun, 2008. "Rethinking theoretical approaches to stigma: A Framework Integrating Normative Influences on Stigma (FINIS)," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 67(3), pages 431-440, August.

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