Psychiatry Disrupted: Theorizing Resistance and Crafting the (R)evolution

297 Pages·2014·3.82 MB·English

by  Bonnie Burstow

psychiatry disrupted
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Psychiatry Disrupted
Theorizing Resistance and Crafting
the (R)evolution
Edited by
bonnie burstow,
brenda a. lefrançois,
and shaindl diamond
McGill-Queen’s University Press
Montreal & Kingston London Ithaca
• •
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© McGill-Queen’s University Press 2014
isbn 978-0-7735-4329-4 (cloth)
isbn 978-0-7735-4330-0 (cloth)
isbn 978-0-7735-9030-4 (epdf)
isbn 978-0-7735-9031-1 (epub)
Legal deposit second quarter 2014
Bibliothèque nationale du Québec
Printed in Canada on acid-free paper that is 100% ancient forest free
(100% post-consumer recycled), processed chlorine free
This book has been published with the help of a grant from the Canadian
Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, through the Awards to
Scholarly Publications Program, using funds provided by the Social Sciences
and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Funding has also been received
from the Memorial University of Newfoundland.
McGill-Queen’s University Press acknowledges the support of the Canada
Council for the Arts for our publishing program. We also acknowledge the
financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Book
Fund for our publishing activities.
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Psychiatry disrupted: theorizing resistance and crafting the (r)evolution /
edited by Bonnie Burstow, Brenda A. LeFrançois, and Shaindl Diamond.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Issued in print and electronic formats.
isbn 978-0-7735-4329-4 (bound). – isbn 978-0-7735-4330-0 (pbk.). –
isbn 978-0-7735-9030-4 (epdf). – isbn 978-0-7735-9031-1 (epub)
1. Antipsychiatry.  2. Psychiatry – Social aspects.  3. Psychiatry – Political
aspects.  4. Psychiatry – Moral and ethical aspects.  I. Burstow, Bonnie,
1945–, author, editor of compilation  II. LeFrançois, Brenda A., 1968–,
author, editor of compilation  III. Diamond, Shaindl, 1980–, author,
editor of compilation
rc454.4.p863 2014 616.89 c2014-900875-9
c2014-900876-7
This book was typeset by Interscript in 10.5/13 Sabon.
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For those who inspire us – psychiatric survivors,
antipsychiatry activists, and mad activists everywhere.
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Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Foreword
Paula J. Caplan xi
Preface
Kate Millett xvii
1 Impassioned Praxis: An Introduction to Theorizing
Resistance to Psychiatry
Bonnie Burstow and Brenda A. Le François 3
2 Becoming Perpetrator: How I Came to Accept Restraining
and Confining Disabled Aboriginal Children
Chris Chapman 16
3 The Withering Away of Psychiatry: An Attrition Model for
Antipsychiatry
Bonnie Burstow 34
4 Psychology Politics Resistance: Theoretical Practice in Manchester
Ian Parker 52
5 From Subservience to Resistance: Nursing versus Psychiatry
Simon Adam 65
6 Developing Partnerships to Resist Psychiatry within Academia
Peter Beresford and Robert Menzies 77
7 “We Do Not Want to Be Split Up From Our Family”:
Group Home Tenants Amidst Land Use Conflict
Chava Finkler 96
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viii Contents
8 Disability, Divisions, Definitions, and Disablism: When
Resisting Psychiatry Is Oppressive
A.J. Withers 114
9 Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
and Liberation from Psychiatric Oppression
Tina Minkowitz 129
10 Deeply Engaged Relationships: Alliances between Mental
Health Workers and Psychiatric Survivors in the uk
Mick McKeown, Mark Cresswell,
and Helen Spandler 145
11 Trans Jeopardy / Trans Resistance: Shaindl Diamond
Interviews Ambrose Kirby
Ambrose Kirby 163
12 Take it Public: Use Art to Make Healing a Public Narrative
Rosemary Barnes and Susan Schellenberg 177
13 Feminist Resistance against the Medicalization of Humanity:
Integrating Knowledge about Psychiatric Oppression
and Marginalized People
Shaindl Diamond 194
14 Sly Normality: Between Quiescence and Revolt
China Mills 208
References 225
Contributors 253
Index 259
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Acknowledgments
The editors would like to acknowledge the work of the many peo-
ple and organizations whose assistance along the way has made this
book possible. First and foremost, we would like to acknowledge
the efforts of psychiatric survivors and other activists whose ster-
ling work over the years underpins much of the theorizing. We
could not have theorized, nor would anyone be writing in this area,
if the stories of survivors had not moved us and if their strategic
efforts had not tutored us. We likewise acknowledge the various
contributing authors whose chapters make this book what it is.
Whether it be theorizing trans resistance or the efforts of progres-
sive psychologists, thank you for rising to the occasion and agree-
ing to be part of the team putting out this ground-breaking book.
We thank the kind and expert staff at McGill-Queen’s University
Press and would particularly like to single out the helpful work
of our acquisition editor Jacqueline Mason and editor Kathryn
Simpson. We were likewise blessed with exceptional graduate assis-
tants who networked with authors, edited, gathered information as
needed, worked long hours so that deadlines could be met – Laura
McKinley, Lauren Spring, Griffin Epstein, and the graduate assis-
tant without whose expert knowledge of the Chicago Manual we
would have been in dire distress – the multi-talented Mary Jean
Hande. We acknowledge the assistance provided by the Ontario
Institute in Studies in Education for providing Burstow with four
one-year graduate assistantships. This book has been published
with the help of a grant from the Federation of the Humanities
and Social Sciences, through the Awards to Scholarly Publications
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