Where is the citizen? Comparing civic spaces in long-term mental healthcare

S T C Ootes; A J Pols; E H Tonkens; D L Willems

doi:10.1016/j.healthplace.2013.02.008

Where is the citizen? Comparing civic spaces in long-term mental healthcare

Health Place. 2013 Jul:22:11-8. doi: 10.1016/j.healthplace.2013.02.008. Epub 2013 Mar 6.

Authors

S T C Ootes¹, A J Pols, E H Tonkens, D L Willems

Affiliation

¹ Academic Medical Centre/University of Amsterdam, Department of General Practice, Medical Ethics Section, P.O. Box 22700, 1100 DE Amsterdam, The Netherlands. [email protected]

PMID: 23542327
DOI: 10.1016/j.healthplace.2013.02.008

Abstract

This paper explores the spatial properties of several notions of citizenship used in long-term mental healthcare. We claim that speaking of citizenship is a way of drawing borders: some people fall inside and some fall outside the civic domain. Informed by Science and Technology Studies, we use topological methods to see where borders are drawn by different notions of citizenship and analyse the notions of space that are co-produced with them. With this study we develop a new way of thinking about citizenship: citizenship as 'being-in-place'. Being in-place can emancipate clients and help them expand their social networks.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Anthropology, Cultural
Community Mental Health Services
Health Policy*
Humans
Mental Disorders*
Netherlands
Qualitative Research
Social Marginalization*