Abstract
AbstractThis study was conducted to examine the construction of social identity among mental health experts by experience working in Finnish municipal mental healthcare services. The construction of social identity is approached as an ongoing lifelong process that is significantly affected by lived experiences with mental health problems and recovery from them. The research data consist of focus group discussions, and the analysis is based on a thematic design that is initially material-driven. As a result, four categories are formed to describe the effect of acting as an expert by experience on social identity and the importance of the issue. Experts by experience have to consider profound questions about their identity and future in their new life situation. The individual meanings of acting as an expert by experience are considered particularly important. The support provided by group members builds confidence in one’s chances of success and thereby supports the development of social identity. Social identities of experts by experience are partially built in encounters with professionals representing the mental health care system. This creates opportunities for new roles for those who act as experts by experience.
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Subject
Psychiatry and Mental health,Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health,Health (social science)
Reference69 articles.
1. Anthony, W. A. (1993). Recovery from mental Illness: The guiding vision of the mental health service system in the 1990s. Psychosocial Rehabilitation Journal, 16(4), 11–13. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0095655.
2. Attygalle, L. (2017). The context experts: A white paper. Tamarack Institute.
3. Ayres, C. G. (2008). Mediators of the relationship between social support and positive health practices in middle adolecents. Journal of Pediatric Health Care 22(2), 94–102.
4. Bauman, Z. (1990). Thinking sociologically: An introduction for everyone. B. Blackwell.
5. Beresford, P., & Boxall, K. (2015). Where do service users’ knowledge sit in relation to professional and academic understandings of knowledge. In P. Staddon (Ed.), Mental Health Service Users in Research. Critical sociological perspectives (pp. 69–86). Policy Press.