Abstract
This article aims to contribute toward the theoretical and philosophical framework for the inclusion of user/survivor voices in psychiatric and psychological practice and research. Drawing from the writings of Michel Foucault, psychology and psychiatry are positioned as security apparatuses: Systems of technologies, discourses, and practices whose goal is securing the body and mind of the patient. These apparatuses rely on unequal distributions of power, for example, between the patient and the doctor, to function, and maintain interest in reproducing these relations to continue. This understanding gives a theoretical basis for questioning the authority of the ‘expert’ to assert discursive expertise over experiential account and, in so doing, marginalize the voice of the user/survivor by listening and diagnosing it. Evidence to support this theoretical framework is presented from cross-cultural psychiatry and recent and ongoing user/survivor-led research.
Published Version
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