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The field of psychiatric contention in the UK, 1960-2000

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  • Crossley, Nick

Abstract

In this paper I discuss the question of how we should understand the concept of "social movements", particularly as applied to health related movements. My argument is that movements should be understood as "fields of contention". This concept, as I develop it, emphasizes two key aspects of social movement mobilization. Firstly, departing from traditional models of movements, which tend to view them as unified "things", it draws our attention to the numerous groups and agents who interact within the internal space of a "movement" and to the relations, alliances and conflicts between those various groups/agents as they unfold through time. Secondly, it draws our attention to the embedding of social movement struggles within multiple differentiated contexts of struggle, each of which affords different opportunities for struggle but each of which makes different demands upon activists if struggle is to prove effective. The model of fields of contention is explored within the paper using empirical data on a variety of "social movement organizations" (SMOs) which have formed around the mental health system in the UK over the last forty years.

Suggested Citation

  • Crossley, Nick, 2006. "The field of psychiatric contention in the UK, 1960-2000," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 62(3), pages 552-563, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:62:y:2006:i:3:p:552-563
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Crossley, Nick, 1998. "R. D. Laing and the British anti-psychiatry movement: a socio-historical analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 47(7), pages 877-889, October.
    2. McInerney, Fran, 2000. ""Requested death": a new social movement," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 50(1), pages 137-154, January.
    3. Crossley, Michele L. & Crossley, Nick, 2001. "Patient' voices, social movements and the habitus; how psychiatric survivors 'speak out," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 52(10), pages 1477-1489, May.
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    Cited by:

    1. Baggott, Rob & Jones, Kathryn, 2014. "The voluntary sector and health policy: The role of national level health consumer and patients' organisations in the UK," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 202-209.
    2. Laws, Jennifer, 2009. "Reworking therapeutic landscapes: The spatiality of an 'alternative' self-help group," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 69(12), pages 1827-1833, December.

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