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Intersecting gender and other social inequalities are pertinent to women's mental health across the life course. Gendered violence and other forms of gender inequality in particular play a key role in the higher burden of psychological distress carried by young women. However, the context of gendered violence is often minimised or overlooked entirely when young women seek help or advice around mental health concerns. This is especially the case for young women under the age of 30 years. This paper reports on a research study exploring how young women in Australia understand their mental health, and the scope for new approaches to support that better address their needs. A qualitative survey undertaken with 52 Australian young women was used to explore the nature of their mental health experiences, sought to learn about the strategies they used when experiencing poor mental health and the scope for mental health peer support as an alternative approach to intervention. Responses from a diverse group of young women demonstrated that they understood the role that gendered violence and gender inequality played in their mental health. Findings point to the risk of slippage between young women's understandings of their lived experience and those of traditional service providers, demonstrating the risks associated with minimising or ignoring of the gendered nature of young women's mental health problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The way social workers discursively construct 'service user' identities in everyday interactions (interviews, conversations and text) can affect quality of relationships and practice outcomes. Even though research has focused on the construction of 'service user' identities by professionals and service users, little has been done to explore such discursive formulations by pre-qualifying social work students. This is especially relevant, given the strengthening of the 'expert by experience' identity in social work education. This paper seeks to make visible mechanisms of student identity constructions as to 'who a service user is', and implications for practice through the examination of student written work pre- and post- a module focussing on lived experience. A critical discursive psychology approach was followed, recognising the interplay between localised professional encounters and wider contexts of power relations. The findings show a shift in the 'service user' identities employed by the students mainly based on individualistic discourses and deserving/undeserving themes (substance misuse the result of vulnerability, rather than selfishness, domestic abuse narratives denoting resilience rather than victimhood). The effect to practice showed shifts between the reflective, expert, person-centred and critical/radical practitioner, mainly stressing the need for professional growth at an individual level, with less emphasis on addressing social inequality. The paper argues that predominantly individualistic discourses can perpetuate de-politicised or oppressive categorisations of 'service users' and calls for further critical engagement with the discursive micro-practises enacted and developed in the social work classroom, if we are to unveil and challenge narrow, or stigmatising categorisations early on. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a well-established literature examining how perpetrators of child sexual abuse (CSA) neutralise the norms and beliefs that ordinarily prohibit such behaviours. However, there has been substantially less focus on how such techniques of neutralisation might also be applied by people and groups who were not directly involved in the abuse, who we might expect to be more supportive. Drawing on a thematic analysis of an open-ended survey (n=140) and semi-structured interviews (n=21) with adults who experienced childhood sexual abuse this paper examines societal responses to disclosure. Identifying three key techniques of neutralisation, it explores how families, professionals and institutions use wider discourses that deny the victim/survivor, deny or minimise harm and silence by appealing to loyalty. The results demonstrate how significant others can constrain, rather than support, the process of disclosure and recovering from CSA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents findings from a photovoice project that was aimed at engaging with a diverse range of black men in a London Borough. The key objectives were to find a different way to get men to talk about their concerns and to raise awareness about mental health. Photovoice is a participatory research action technique that was developed to enable communities to document their concerns and experiences of community life that is meaningful to them. Nineteen men participated in the project. It has been suggested that men, in particular, black men do not find it easy to talk about mental health issues. This study found that through the use of photovoice methods, black men were able to talk about a range of emotions when they were offered the right medium and safe spaces to share their experiences. It found that they can and want to take control of their lives, but at times may require life skills training. Another finding was that black men have to balance expectations about being strong whilst 'containing' vulnerabilities in racialised contexts – being hard on the outside and human on the inside, and that their experiences are characterised by journeys of significant struggle and resilience in the face of adversity. The paper concludes that mental health services should find ways of engaging with black men differently, i.e. reaching out rather than the traditional mantra of 'outreach'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the notion of time when undertaking interpreter-mediated Mental Health Act Assessments (MHAAs) from the perspective of Approved Mental Health Professionals (AMHPs). It is based on one theme that emerged from a reflexive thematic analysis of 17 semi-structured interviews with AMHPs undertaken as part of a larger corpus (Author’s own 2023). We found when carrying out interpreter-mediated MHAAs, AMHPs perceive time as luxury; something that they do not have in abundance, and which is made more problematic through the additional exigences when an interpreter is required. The luxury of time to which participants refer is determined ostensibly by resource availability underpinned by risk. Systemic and structural barriers also pertain. Driven by time’s omnipresence, these findings demonstrate fluctuations in how AMHPs use spoken/signed language interpreters and give rise to contradiction and sometimes passivity in practice. These findings are important considerations when undertaking any social work service that might require interpreter-meditation and are especially significant during a MHAA when a person’s liberty is at issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses Carol Bacchi’s ‘What’s the problem represented to be?’ (WPR) framework to explore representations of women’s mental health in federal and South Australian mental health policies. It argues that mental health policies govern women through neoliberal discourses that individualise mental health and illness while neglecting the social structural factors which significantly influence mental health outcomes and health equity. In a ‘self-monitoring’ neoliberal society, people are increasingly required to seek medical and pharmaceutical intervention to promote ideal personhoods, with women overrepresented in this group. The disciplinary power of the medicalisation discourse categorises women as either ideal or failed neoliberal subjects. This is concerning for social workers because neoliberal and medicalisation discourses shape how women’s mental health is represented in policy and responded to in practice. This paper challenges biomedical and neoliberal discourses underpinning policy representations and identifies the implications for social work and social policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COVID-19 has significantly impacted a substantial number of Black Americans. Black women, in particular, are facing challenges financially, physically, and mentally during this unprecedented time. Between serving as frontline workers, being concerned about contracting the virus, contributing to their families financially, and worrying about their loved ones' health, Black women are experiencing great strain on their mental health and well-being. These stressors illustrate the need for social work researchers and practitioners to address Black women's mental health. This paper presents our reflections, experiences, and response to COVID-19 as Black women and scholars. Guided by our reflections and personal experiences, we put forth suggestions and reflexive thoughts for social work researchers and practitioners to prioritize Black women's mental health during and after these unprecedented times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the reflections of two social work PhD students based on their personal and professional experiences with the COVID-19 pandemic. The students describe their positionality and use that to expound on the impact of the pandemic on their lives. They reflect on the disruptions to their social work education and research priorities including transitioning to online learning and modifications to research agendas. They then discuss ongoing distractions such as worries about getting sick, mental health concerns, and financial constraints. They share their discoveries about glaring disparities in coronavirus infection and death rates, the need to adjust research agendas in response to current events, and the urgency for qualitative research strategies to add meaning to the numbers being reported. In addition, the authors describe shared experiences and intersections they discovered while writing this essay. Finally, recommendations for practice include recommitting to social work values to help surmount the ongoing waves of this pandemic; reimagining social work education so that disparities and injustice intersect with every subject taught and graduates become experts at leading social change; and harnessing the untapped potential of qualitative research to drive real, systemic change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exploring children and young people’s own understanding of experiences with abuse and maltreatment is an important part of taking their right to participation seriously. By applying a narrative theoretical framework, this paper explores and analyzes young people’s and young adults’ stories of being the target of violence and abuse as children, and their meaning making and definition of such experiences, then and now. The overall findings show the participants’ varied and nuanced perceptions of what constitutes violence were much dependent on contextual, relational, and temporal aspects. Furthermore, many participants reported psychological and emotional abuse and neglect to be the most hurtful of their experiences of maltreatment. Finally, the analysis sheds light on how responses to abuse and maltreatment change and depend on the children and young people’s definition of their situation through time and context. The paper contributes with qualitative knowledge to the social work research and practice field, on how abuse and maltreatment unfold in and affect children and young people’s lives seen from their own points of view. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This mixed-methods, exploratory study investigates the gambling activities of street youth in Mumbai, India. Data from surveys and brief interviews of 70 youth aged 12–24, two focus groups, and ethnographic observations offer descriptive snapshots of the gambling behavior of participants. The article includes details about games played, popular venues, initiation patterns, time spent gambling, and interactions with the police. Street youth gamble for social benefits, such as group membership and fun; it is also a leisure activity enabling time to go by quickly. Individual benefits include intermittent rewards and a high after winning or being referred to as a gambler. The inability to save, the lack of recreation options, living in groups, and the environment of the streets structure and sustain gambling. This study discusses the group and social dimension of gambling among street youth, and how this dimension makes their participation different from adolescent gambling in general and General Addictions Theory. It contributes to the literature by emphasizing that for street youth the social/group aspects of gambling predominate the psychological. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications for practice, highlighting the need to develop recreational, income-saving, and educational awareness programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Critical approaches in psychology and social work criticizing the current mainstream psychotherapy discourse have been gaining more ground in recent decades. Yet, little empirical research has, to date, explored therapy in regular practice to identify the discursive resources employed during the clinical encounter and the way such discourses create and maintain power differences and the boundaries of the therapeutic interaction. This paper is rooted within a post-structural perspective based on Foucauldian analysis which sees power as dispersed throughout the social field and emphasizes the multiple ways in which power differences are created and maintained through accepted forms of discourse and knowledge. Data were drawn from a large study of mental health intakes in clinics in Israel working with culturally diverse populations. We conducted critical discourse analysis on a single dyad including transcription of a recorded intake session and post-intake interviews with the client and the therapist. Based on existing critique of psychotherapeutic discourse for its individualistic and apolitical view, we explored how the hegemonic psychotherapy discourse is negotiated in real practice, the ideology it carries, and the power differences it perpetuates. We shed light on the way this discourse conceals social injustice and contributes to the disempowerment of the client and ultimately to a poorer quality of services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a need for qualitative studies on motherhood and mental distress. Many mothers have a diagnosis of mental illness, and their motherhood exists in constant tension with their distress. This paper focuses on 10 mothers’ stories about motherhood in relation to being admitted as mental health service users in three different Norwegian community mental health centers. The study has a narrative approach, and through a thematic analysis of personal stories, we emphasize how the 10 women make sense of their experiences of admittance to mental health services in relation to dominant Discourses of good motherhood. Themes identified were: (1) being able to put oneself in the child’s shoes; (2) the emotional impact of being admitted; (3) being open with the children about the admission; and (4) being an emotionally available and present mother. Based on the results of our analysis, we suggest the mothers experienced their distress as a natural reaction to life strains over time, and that they relate to the admissions as interruptions. This underlines the necessity of a more holistic approach, with a support system that focuses on both personal and social aspects of motherhood and mental distress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although there have been a few articles discussing laughter in social work, social work is not normally associated with humour and laughter. The paper explores the use of non-seriousness in interview interactions with Approved Mental Health Professionals (AMHPs) using analytical insights gained from ethnomethodology, conversation analysis and socio-linguistics. Excerpts from empirical data from individual narrative interviews will be used to show how social work identity can be accomplished through humour and laughter. The significance of the key ethnomethodological concepts of unique adequacy, vulgar competency and indexicality will be used to inform the analysis of gallows or bleak humour, ironic banter about the ‘other’ and the telling of troubles. In the interviews, non-seriousness was successfully accomplished by two ‘strangers’. It is argued that as group members of a specialised group, we share a deep competence in the haecceity or the ‘just thisness’ of the social work trade. Thus, this can be seen as a powerful demonstration of the competencies involved in being a bona fide member of a collectivity. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]