Sunday Lecture – Ethical dilemmas of mental health interventions

Emerging ethical dilemmas of mental health interventions for civilian populations affected by armed conflict; Researchers and clinicians are collaboratively developing standardized “evidence-based treatment packages” to improve approaches to mental health treatments in war-torn societies. Although these therapies are widely applied and are often promoted as gold standards it has been increasingly recognized that their effectiveness in diverse populations remains uncertain. Social scientists have gone so far as criticizing these interventions as forms of “transnational governmentality” that lead to the imposition of rights and certain practices in the interest of urgent care. They call for more research on ways in which communities mobilize their own social and economic resources in order to heal the physical and psychological wounds of violence. In addition I argue that we lack information on how different perceptions of trauma related health problems and psychiatric treatment influence each other and thereby produce recombinant arrangements of expertise treatment and health distribution. To provide insight into these complex matters I will draw on my ethnographic research with Kosovar health practitioners to discuss how local practitioners provide mental health treatment in post-war Kosovo; how they integrate the treatment procedures learned from international experts into their local models of clinical practice; and what kind of new syncretistic treatment modalities develop in this process. It will become apparent that psychiatric practice is not only influenced by scientific and medical knowledge but also by sociocultural contexts and political interests.; Hanna Kienzler; Department of Social Science Health and Medicine; King’s College London; 11.00 £3 on the door/free to members