Abstract
Objective: To study the symbolism of community as understood and practised within a mental health Crisis and Assessment Service in an Australian city.
Theoretical approaches: The paper draws on anthropological theories of symbolism, boundary work and social networks.
Method: Ethnographic fieldwork techniques were employed for data collection. Ethnographic analysis was then applied to these data.
Results: In mental health practice, rules of professional behaviour established a boundary that prohibited mental health professionals from social engagement with members of the community they served. Ethical imperatives prevented them from forming interpersonal bonds with their clients. Rules of privacy and confidentiality meant that they could not relate to the client’s social network as a whole.
Conclusions: The companion to this paper identified a summarizing symbol, which we designated community, and it specified the social values it represented when appropriated to the task of drawing a boundary between hospital and community. This paper specifies additional social values represented by community when it is appropriated to the task of drawing a boundary between community mental health professionals and the community.