Social justice, mental illness, and human rights

Bhugra, Dinesh

;Carta, Mauro G.

Ultimo

2024-01-01

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Abstract

Although very many international charters and international policies on human rights exist, often countries and nation states pay lip service to the idea of social justice. Often the situation is much worse for patients with mental illnesses who in the 21st century are still chained in many countries and have no rights to vote, marry, gain employment or get into contractual processes. Social justice is part of basic human rights and is related to social covenant, compact or social contract in addition to economic justice. Although there have been very many efforts to shift the agenda for social justice in mental healthcare, including various therapeutic interventions such as counselling, psychotherapy and psychology, this has not been achieved fully in very many settings and countries. Social justice and economic justice have not reached the people it matters most to. Inequalities, geopolitical and social determinants have all affected access to appropriate services. Much of this work has been outside of mainstream therapeutic practice, or from a US context and thus cannot be easily applied to other settings. Using studies from Sardinia, the present chapter explores the concept of social justice in organisational structures, healthcare systems and training. These studies involved patients of services in the design of research which showed higher levels of satisfaction with services compared with patients in non-psychiatric services. There has also been an increasing acknowledgement and emphasis on social justice related issues especially in the context of individuals with mental illnesses in political discourses around the globe. Social justice has become an important theme but often it is misunderstood and misused within mental health.