In What Ways Does the Concept of Risk in Mental Health Policy and Practice Represent a Problem for Mental Health Service Users/Survivors?

1886 Words8 Pages
If you were to read headlines like ‘Paranoid schizophrenic killed mother and friend after early hospital release' (this refers to Leyton Williams who killed his elderly mother and friend, Anthony Kitely, in 2008) (Jones 2010) what would yours or anyone’s immediate reaction be? I suspect that after feeling sympathy for the victim you would start discussing the risk and danger mental health users pose to society. You are not alone in your thoughts because the current feeling is ‘Western Society is increasingly preoccupied with concerns about risk so much so that some sociologists now define it as a risk society’. (K272, Unit 14, p. 33) Unfortunately this perception of risk can impact on people with mental health problems. These effects usually come in the form of stigmatisation and the belief that they contribute to violence in society. It can even lead to them becoming victims of violent crimes. These perceptions are often brought to the forefront of peoples’ thoughts by the media. Before elaborating on how risk impacts on mental health users I feel it is important to try to define the concept of risk, I emphasise ‘try’ because it is a word that is used in many different contexts and has multiple meanings depending upon when and who is using it. It must be noted that ‘risk is not a real thing [...] it is a concept, [i.e.] an idea expressed in words’. (K272, Unit 14, p. 34) Steve Morgan from The Sainsbury Centre described risk as “…the likelihood of an identified behaviour occurring in response to changing personal circumstances. The outcomes are more frequently harmful for self or others, though occasionally they may have a beneficial aim in pursuit of a positive change.” (Quoted on Arwtraining website) This description highlights the two vital components of risk. The first is the likelihood of something occurring and the second the nature of the outcome

More about In What Ways Does the Concept of Risk in Mental Health Policy and Practice Represent a Problem for Mental Health Service Users/Survivors?

Open Document