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Mental Health and Risk
Mental Health and Risk
Wednesday, 13 July 2016: 10:45-12:15
Location: Hörsaal 6B P (Neues Institutsgebäude (NIG))
RC49 Mental Health and Illness (host committee) Language: English
The assessment and management of risk has become a key issue in mental health services in a range of jurisdictions. These concerns have been driven by the perceived risk that those with a mental disorder have been seen to pose to themselves or others.
Policy responses have been complex. Mental health professionals have been charged with both identifying and reducing risks which are seen to be problematic. At the same time they are encouraged to promote “positive risk taking” in which service users are encouraged to take calculated risks in order to aid their recovery. In addition to this, service users themselves have been encouraged to manage their own risks, although their views have been under-researched. Whilst risk is often viewed as a matter of common sense there are significant differences in the way different professional groups, service users and carers conceptualise risk.
This session aims to explore the way in which risk is conceptualised, contested and managed by mental health professionals, those with a mental disorder and informal carers. Abstracts on any aspect of mental health and risk from a broad range of sociological and inter-disciplinary perspectives are invited.
Session Organizer: