“Role over” or roll over? Dirty work, shift, and Mental Health Act Assessments.

Sarah Vicary, Alys Young, Stephen Hicks

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

259 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

The rise in numbers of applications for people being formally detained in hospital is one of the reasons given for the independent review of the Mental Health Act in England and Wales (Department of Health and Social Care, 2017). These figures have led to concerns that the legislation might be flawed including in relation to the process of Mental Health Act Assessments. Discussed in this article are two of the roles involved: the doctor who is responsible for conducting a medical assessment and the Approved Mental Health Professional (AMHP) who is responsible for assessing the social circumstances and in addition making the application. Using data from a study into AMHPs and the lens of the sociological theory ‘dirty work’ (Hughes 1971) we discuss shift, an aspect of dirty work not yet applied in this context. We focus on AMHPs’ perceptions of the behaviour of doctors as encapsulated in the verbatim phrase “role over.” We argue that AMHPs, including social workers, justify or, to play on the words of the verbatim quote, roll over. This finding adds to the understanding of behaviour as it is understood within psychiatric occupations, including social work, during Mental Health Act Assessments.
Original languageEnglish
JournalBritish Journal of Social Work
Early online date6 Mar 2019
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2019

Keywords

  • AMHP
  • dirty work
  • IPA
  • Mental Health Act Assessments
  • shift

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of '“Role over” or roll over? Dirty work, shift, and Mental Health Act Assessments.'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this