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A Social Work Perspective on Seclusion and Restraint in Australia’s Public Mental Health System
Journal article   Peer reviewed

A Social Work Perspective on Seclusion and Restraint in Australia’s Public Mental Health System

Dyann Ross
Journal of Progressive Human Services, Vol.29(2), pp.130-148
2018
url
https://doi.org/10.1080/10428232.2018.1442972View
Published Version

Abstract

human rights abuse mental health services seclusion and restraint social work torture UniSC Diversity Area - Cultural and Linguistic Diversity
A social work perspective of the nature of seclusion and restraint in Australia's public mental health systems is presented. The article suggests a theme of seclusion and restraint as a regulatory mechanism despite evidence of harm and even death. The case that the use of seclusion and restraint constitutes a social justice issue as it can be understood as an abuse of human rights and form of torture is established. An incident of a person dying in an Australian mental health facility after being secluded is presented to substantiate this claim. An over focus on individual expressions of violence or risk can be at the expense of understanding the systemic and cultural nature of violence in mental health systems. It is important to understand the nature of, and perhaps to question the presumed necessity of, seclusion and restraint practices to ensure that social workers are not breaching their professional obligations to people who are mental health clients. © 2018 Taylor & Francis

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