The Uptake of Critical Perspectives in the Field of Global Mental Health: A Critical Interpretive Synthesis

Abstract

AbstractAn emancipatory movement is surging within the of global mental health (GMH) field, advancing the groundwork laid by scholars who champion a more critical, self-reflective, decolonized, and socially responsive discipline. As GMH enters its second decade, there have been numerous critiques of its origins and underlying paradigms, with increasing emphasis on critical approaches in recent publications. However, there is no comprehensive synthesis has yet been undertaken to understand how critical perspectives have been integrated into the GMH literature. To contribute to the ongoing discourse aimed at cultivating GMH as a critical and socially responsive discipline, this article employed the critical interpretive synthesis method. critical interpretive synthesis is designed to navigate the synthesis of extensive and diverse literature while actively engaging with the foundational assumptions that shape and inform the body of research via employing a critical lens to scrutinize the data. We conducted searches using PubMed, MEDLINE(OVID), PsycINFO, Scopus and EMBASE data bases; published between 2007 and February 2023. We included 58 articles that have embraced critical perspectives, whether explicitly or implicitly. Through this iterative process, five distinct themes or “four turns” emerge: (1) the inward turn, focusing on the “local” as a source of alterity, resistance, and critique; (2) turning the critical lens outward or political turn; (3) the push for a broader agenda; and (4) the reflexive turn. This article discusses the implications of four “turns” in how critical perspectives have been and are being used, in relation to the goal of developing as a socially responsive discipline.