Mental health, public space, and the city: questions of individual and collective access

Parr, H. (1997) Mental health, public space, and the city: questions of individual and collective access. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 15(4), pp. 435-454. (doi: 10.1068/d150435)

Abstract

In recent revisionings of disablement andgeography, conceptions of the body, of deviancy, and of thesocial construction of difference have been interrogated. The author arguesthat it is important not to neglect a critical geography of mental healthin this broader rewriting of disability and ableism. Empirical examplesare drawn from research in Nottingham, UK. These examples show how people with mental health problems access the public realmthrough individual (and often disruptive) use of urban spaces,possibly as strategies of resistance to imposed medical identities. Inthe second half of the paper the author documents a more collective political process occurring through 'user movements' which have facilitated patientpower and patient influence in the places of therapy spread across thecity.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Parr, Professor Hester
• Authors: Parr, H.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Geographical and Earth Sciences
• Journal Name: Environment and Planning D: Society and Space
• Publisher: Pion
• ISSN: 0263-7758
• ISSN (Online): 1472-3433