1.2.2 Boundaries of difference One of the things that language does is define and give a name to differences between people – to delineate the boundaries that separate them. In the mental health field, the ‘mad’ are at one end of the social divide that separates the ‘normal’ from the ‘abnormal’. They are ‘the other’, a point made in the article by Perkins (above): ‘To be mad is to be defined as “other”’. This is a recurring theme in the mental health field. In the following passage Abina Par
Introduction This unit takes you on a journey of discovery where you are invited to challenge ideas, both new and old, in relation to mental health. It is made up of a series of three extracts. The first extract, ‘Boundaries of explanation’, sets out the theme of boundaries: boundaries within and between groups; within and between explanatory frameworks; and within and between experiences of mental health and distress. The second extract, ‘Whose risk is it anyway?’, considers a critical account of
3.4.3 Respecting autonomy is the foremost ethical principle in health care Some commentators believe the pendulum has swung so far in favour of respecting autonomy that it leaves little scope for users to be passive recipients of healing. The desire to make each user an active participant in their own healing process can make it hard, or even impossible, for a user to refuse to engage in active decision making, and leave the decision to the benevolent practitioner. In this case, the user may waive his or her rights, by choosing not to be kept informed about changes
2.4.2 Holism and ideas about the body Reductionist medical approaches have been criticised for providing a fixed, mechanistic view of the body, which fails to capture the patient's experience. The power associated with biomedical diagnoses and expertise means that patients’ explanations for their illnesses are often overlooked or dismissed. Does holism, which seeks to treat the mind, body and spirit, fare any better in giving patients a sense of control or ownership of what their illness means? This question is often reframed i
1.2 What is health? What do the words ‘health’ and ‘healthy’ mean or imply? Superficially this seems a fairly straightforward question: for example, you may recognise that a house plant does not look too healthy. Does this mean it is diseased or is going to die, or that it requires some attention? When applied to humans the term ‘healthy’ is often associated with a variety of other, more elaborate concepts. For example, it may mean that a person looks ‘well’, as a result of being fit (doing
Introduction The stresses of modern living take their toll in terms of our health. This unit is formed from three extracts. The first extract is called ‘Understanding why people use complementary and alternative medicine'. This part discusses: the meaning of health, its origins in terms of components and beliefs. Also models of health care delivery are discussed together with concepts and beliefs about complementary and alternative medicine. Extract two 'Critical issues in the therapeutic relationship'
Acknowledgements The content acknowledged below is Proprietary (see terms and conditions). This content is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Licence Grateful acknowledgement is made to the following sources for permission to reproduce material in this unit:
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1.6.6 Professional bodies and societies Consider joining a learned society or professional organisation. They can be very useful for conference bulletins as well as in-house publications, often included in the subscription. Don't forget to ask about student rates. Try looking for the websites of learned societies associated with your subject area (e.g. The Royal Society , the Institute of Electrica
1.6.4 Blogs The founder ofTechnorati claims that the number of ‘blogs’doubles every five months and that the creation rate is approaching two per second. One estimate I read in July 2010 put the number at 400 million ‘blogs’. Because these online diaries offer instant publishing opportunities, you potentially have access to a wealth of knowledge from commentators and experts (if they blog) in a wi
1.5.4 The 5 Ds If you don’t use a system at all, then you could suffer from the effects of information overload: losing important information wasting time on trying to find things ending up with piles of physical and virtual stuff everywhere One technique you might like to apply to your files (be they paper or electronic) is the 5Ds. Try applying these and see if you can reduce your information overload.
1.5.1 Why is it important to be organised? 87% of items that are filed into a filing cabinet are never looked at again. STANFORD UNIVERSITY
In 2010, the world’s digital information output was estimated to pass 1.2zettabytes – A zettabyte is a new term which equals a thousand billion gigabytes. University of California (Berkley)
A new blog is created every second TECHNORATI
10% of salary costs are wasted as e
Learning outcomes By the end of this guide you should be able to: conduct your own searches efficiently and effectively; find references to material in bibliographic databases; make efficient use of full text electronic journals services; critically evaluate information from a variety of sources; understand the importance of organising your own information; identify some of the systems available; describe ho
Learning outcomes By the end of this unit you should be able to answer the following questions: What can very young babies do? How can adults and older children involve babies fully in everyday life and help them feel valued?
References
5.3 Teaching and learning Vygotsky proposed that through contact with other, more able people children appropriate new ways of thinking and doing. Indeed Vygotsky saw learning as best supported when there is a degree of inequality in skills and understanding between two people. People of different abilities working together can create what Vygotsky termed a zone of proximal development (ZPD) – the difference between what a child can do unaided, and what the same child can do with the help of more able others.
5.2 Thought and language For Piaget the development of thought and language was dependent on underlying ‘intelligence’. Language is therefore simply a reflection of mental ability: intelligence precedes language and is independent of it. Vygotsky (1986) however, proposed that language has two functions: inner speech, used for mental reasoning, and external speech, used for communication with other people. He suggested that these two functions arise separately. That is, before the age of about 2 years, child
4.6 Evaluating constructivism Piaget's theory was revolutionary in many respects. It recognised that children thought differently to adults. The view that learning is an individual and constructive process differed sharply from the prevailing climate of behaviourism when it was published. However, the experimental tasks that Piaget used to establish his theory have been subjected to criticism. Subsequent research, most notably by Donaldson (1978), has shown that under certain conditions young children are able to operate
4.2 The origins of Piagetian theory Piaget started his career as a biologist, interested in the processes by which organisms adapt to their environment during development. Born in Switzerland, his interest in child development began in 1920 when he worked in Alfred Binet's laboratory, helping to translate items for one of the first intelligence tests into French. Piaget became interested in the wrong answers the children gave. These ‘errors’ seemed to be systematic rather than random, suggesting some underlying consistencie
4.2 Violence within communities Click on 'View document to access Reading B Learning outcomes On completion of this topic, you should be able to: Discuss the ways in which children are the victims of violence and the multiple effects that violence has on children, encompassing not only physical pain and injury but also psychological damage. Examine the various roles that children play in relation to violence, as victims, perpetrators, witnesses, colluders and peacemakers. Analyse the relationship between children as victims of violence and a
