Breaking the circles of fear: A review of mental health services to African and Caribbean communities

Keating, Frank; Robertson, David

doi:10.1037/e427032008-011

Cited by 50 publications

(90 citation statements)

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“…(based on perceptions and experiences of unfair, unequal, and inappropriate care and treatment) has a profoundly negative impact on Black people's willingness to seek help for psychological distress (Keating et al 2002). Black Caribbean women suggested that there are deleterious socio-cultural, personal, and psychological consequences of being diagnosed with a mental illness.…”

Section: Resistance To Psychiatric Labellingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The 'circle of fear' which results from Black Caribbeans' perceptions and experience of unfair and unequal treatment in mental health services has generated deeply-entrenched mistrust within these communities -even among those with no firsthand experience of services -and acts as a powerful barrier to accessing care and treatment (Keating et al 2002, Edge and Rogers 2005, Keating 2007). In consequence, Black Caribbeans experiencing mild/moderate mental illnesses (common mental disorders (CMD) such as anxiety and depression) are less likely than other ethnic groups to engage with primary care services.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Ethnicity and mental health encounters in primary care: help-seeking and help-giving for perinatal depression among Black Caribbean women in the UK

Edge¹,

MacKian²

2010

Ethnicity & Health

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Perinatal depression among Black Caribbean women in the UK remains an intriguingly under-researched topic. Despite high levels of known psychosocial risks, Black Caribbeans remain relatively invisible among those seeking/receiving help for depression during and after pregnancy.In-depth interviews were undertaken with a purposive sample of twelve Black Caribbean women selected from a lager sample (n=101) to examine prevalence and psychosocial risks for perinatal depression among this ethnic group. The study also sought to explore women's models of help-seeking. During analysis, the context in which help-seeking/giving is mediated emerged as a key issue. We explore the nature of these encounters thereby opening up the possibility of finding common ground between service users and providers for enabling women to receive the care and support they need.Whether or not women configure depressive feelings as 'symptoms' requiring external validation and intervention is a reflection both of the social embeddedness of those individuals and of how 'help-givers' perceive them and their particular needs. We suggest that the ways in which helpseeking/giving are commonly conceptualised might offer at least a partial explanation for apparently low levels of diagnosed perinatal depression among Black Caribbean women. Popular approaches to health seeking behaviours within health promotion and practice focus on individuals as the fulcrum for change, tending to overlook their embeddedness within 'reflexive communities'. This might serve to reinforce the invisibility of Black Caribbean women both in mainstream mental health services and associated research. Alternative approaches may be required to achieve government targets to reduce inequalities in access, care, and treatment and to deliver more responsive and culturally-appropriate mental health services.

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Section: Resistance To Psychiatric Labellingmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Ethnicity and mental health encounters in primary care: help-seeking and help-giving for perinatal depression among Black Caribbean women in the UK

Edge¹,

MacKian²

2010

Ethnicity & Health

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“…particularly fears which are linked with racism and mental disorder, as highlighted by Keating et al (2002). The significance of the homicide inquiry report on Christopher Clunis and the sense that black men are at risk of being viewed symmetrically as high-risk figures is further illustrated by one of the managers in the following extract:…”

Section: High-risk As Racialized Danger To Othersmentioning

confidence: 96%

Inquiry reports as active texts and their function in relation to professional practice in mental health

Warner

2006

Health, Risk & Society

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Inquiries into adverse events make a significant contribution to the way risk is understood in modern society and the reports they produce therefore represent an important textual development. Despite their importance, there have been few empirical studies to evaluate the impact of inquiry reports as documents, particularly with regard to their symbolic functions and their intertextuality with media accounts. This paper focuses on the function of homicide inquiry reports in mental health in the UK. Such reports have been significant because they are symptomatic of increased levels of anxiety associated with mental illness in post-community care society and also because they have served to exacerbate these anxieties. The paper draws upon social workers' accounts from an empirical study to demonstrate how reports have behaved as active documents in structuring social relations and responses to risk in mental health. The paper argues that inquiry reports in this field have taken on the status of modern allegories with powerful symbolic functions, through which they have actively reconstituted defensive practice among professionals. It is concluded that these findings are relevant in other fields such as medicine, where the wider impact of inquiry reports warrants closer attention.

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“…The main thrust of these issues is that black people are disproportionately represented among people diagnosed as 'schizophrenic'; detained compulsorily in hospital; admitted to forensic institutes; and so on (see Fernando, 1988Fernando, , 2003Fernando, , 2010. The experience of people who use mental health services is reflected in the findings of a report which is largely based on service user surveys in the UK (Keating, Robertson, McCulloch, & Francis, 2002). Services are perceived as lacking respect for their users and out of touch with black and minority ethnic communities; models of mental illness used by professionals do not acknowledge cultural diversity in society; service-user involvement in planning or delivering services is poor or non-existent; and initiatives in service provision led by black people are not valued or properly supported.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Race and culture issues in mental health and some thoughts on ethnic identity

Fernando

2012

Counselling Psychology Quarterly

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In multicultural environments like the US, Canada, and the UK, mental health care systems must serve the needs of increasingly diverse populations. Yet, our capacity to do so is affected by systemic and institutionalized racism that has affected psychiatry and mental health treatment since its inception. This review of a history of racism and its influence on the models we use to treat racial and ethnic minority people raises possibilities of how a contemporary anti-racist mental health approach can address contemporary understandings of race, ethnicity, and culture.

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Breaking the circles of fear: A review of mental health services to African and Caribbean communities

Cited by 50 publications

References 0 publications

Ethnicity and mental health encounters in primary care: help-seeking and help-giving for perinatal depression among Black Caribbean women in the UK

Ethnicity and mental health encounters in primary care: help-seeking and help-giving for perinatal depression among Black Caribbean women in the UK

Inquiry reports as active texts and their function in relation to professional practice in mental health

Race and culture issues in mental health and some thoughts on ethnic identity

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