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Social work education on mental health: postmodern discourse and the medical model
- Author:
- CASSTEVENS W. J.
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Teaching in Social Work, 30(4), October 2010, pp.385-398.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
US social work education emphasises a client-centred and strengths-based approach. However, once in a mental health setting, social workers are exposed to the traditional medical model. This article provides an approach to presenting alternatives along with the traditional medical model in the context of mental health service provision. It describes how, in the context of the medical model in community mental health, there are rationales for challenging this model and considering alternative models and interpretations of severely disordered behaviour. One premise of this approach, that social workers need to avoid having the deficit-based, problem-saturated language of the medical model dominate their practice, is inherent in all strengths-based approaches to practice. Finally, the author suggests that one can utilise the postmodern language of narrative therapy to constructively discuss alternative approaches, which expands on previous contributions in this field.