Rethinking Mental Health and Disorder
Subtitle: Feminist Perspectives
Contributors: Mary Ballou (Editor); Laura S. Brown (Editor)
Publisher: The Guilford Press; Guilford Press
Published: September 26, 2002
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 308
ISBN-13: 9781572307995
Subjects: Clinical psychology; Feminism; Psychology; Feminist therapy; Medical; Women; Feminism & Feminist Theory; Psychology & Psychiatry / Clinical Psychology; Feminist psychology; Mental Health
First sentence: Theories of feminine personality were easy targets for the ire of second-wave feminists inside and outside psychology.
Description: This volume presents cutting-edge work at the interface of feminist theory and mental health. Building on the success of their acclaimed "Personality and Psychopathology," which called into question traditional models of health and disorder, Mary Ballou and Laura S. Brown have invited a stellar array of contributors to continue the vital process of feminist theory building and critique. The book outlines compelling theoretical approaches including postmodern, constructivist, relational, cultural, and feminist ecological perspectives that go beyond simply inserting analyses of gender, culture, and other contextual factors into existing paradigms. Also examined are specific areas of distress and disorder about which new feminist understandings have been developed in the past decade. Shedding new light on such conditions as depression, PTSD, psychosis, somatoform disorders, and premenstrual syndrome, chapters address critical questions about how disorders are diagnosed, who gets labeled as "sick," and how treatment is conceptualized and delivered.