IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/socpsy/v50y2004i3p241-261.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Social Welfare Policy: Social Rehabilitation of Psychiatric Patients in Urban china

Author

Listed:
  • Robert Sevigny

    (Department of Sociology, University of Montreal, sevignyr@magellan.umontreal.ca)

Abstract

Background: The background of this paper is an empirical research on social rehabilitation of psychiatric patients in a large urban city in China during the post-Mao period, the Beijing Psychiatric Rehabilitation Research. Another aspect of this background is an exchange with Chen Sheying, a colleague interested in social services for the elderly in China. The underlying assumption of this paper is the multiple similarities between those two areas. Objectives: The first objective of this paper is to present a contextual analysis of the development of psychiatric rehabilitation in urban China and a second objective is to stress the similarities between psychiatric rehabilitation and social services to the elderly. Material: The material presented, while referring mainly to the general context of psychiatry and rehabilitation around that period, includes some data from the Beijing research. There are five analytical dimensions: (1) epistemological choices and research paradigms; (2) rehabilitation as an idea; (3) rehabilitation as a social, political and cultural matter; (4) factors of change in the recent history of China; and, finally, (5) mental illness as a personal experience. Discussion: This presentation leads to a discussion about the multiple similarities between the social welfare of two vulnerable categories of people (i.e. psychiatric patients and the elderly). It also offers, in the specific field of mental illness, a general interpretation of the rapid social changes in urban China. Conclusion: The conclusion is that psychiatric and ageing services are both a product of interaction among various cultural and social-political-economic factors. Any social welfare intervention or policy should be based on a thorough understanding of the five dimensions referred to earlier, including the traditional Chinese familism and structural dimensions of the post-Mao ‘economic state’ orientation.

Suggested Citation

  • Robert Sevigny, 2004. "Social Welfare Policy: Social Rehabilitation of Psychiatric Patients in Urban china," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 50(3), pages 241-261, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:socpsy:v:50:y:2004:i:3:p:241-261
    DOI: 10.1177/0020764004043139
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0020764004043139
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0020764004043139?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Pearson, Veronica, 1995. "Goods on which one loses: Women and mental health in China," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 41(8), pages 1159-1173, October.
    2. Veronica Pearson, 1992. "Community and Culture: a Chinese Model of Community Care for the Mentally Ill," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 38(3), pages 163-178, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Xin Zhang & Syafila Kamarudin & Qingqing Tang, 2024. "Modified CMIS Factors Predicting Chinese Women's Mental Health Information Seeking in Douyin," Studies in Media and Communication, Redfame publishing, vol. 12(1), pages 109-123, March.
    2. Kam-Shing Yip, 2005. "An Historical Review of the Mental Health Services in the People’s Republic of China," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 51(2), pages 106-118, June.
    3. Lau, Ying & Keung, Daniel Wong Fu, 2007. "Correlates of depressive symptomatology during the second trimester of pregnancy among Hong Kong Chinese," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 64(9), pages 1802-1811, May.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:socpsy:v:50:y:2004:i:3:p:241-261. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.