Stacey Wilson

Doctor of Philosophy, (Nursing)
Study Completed: 2014
College of Health

Citation

Thesis Title
Mental health crisis intervention: A discourse analysis involving service users, families, nurses and the police

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Ms Wilson conducted a Foucault-influenced discourse analysis, which explored the field of Aotearoa New Zealand mental health crisis intervention by interviewing mental health service users, families, nurses, and the police. She found that crisis intervention is affected by four predominant discursive constructions: mental disorder, risk management, expertise, and uncertainty. Service users bear a disproportionate amount of responsibility during a mental health crisis in which they are held accountable for much of what occurs in the clinical and community setting. They have limited control over the decisions that affect their care and the way services are delivered. In order to disrupt structural and systemic inequities, Ms Wilson suggested that self-reflection is required to attend to the ways that the experiences of people involved in a mental health crisis affect and contribute to maintaining the status quo. She used Foucault’s framework of ethical practice to counter conditional citizenship and redefine responsibilities in the field.

Supervisors
Professor Jenny Carryer
Dr Tula Brannelly