Using a capabilities approach to understand poverty and social exclusion of psychiatric survivors

Abstract

The purpose of this project is to better understand poverty and social exclusion of psychiatric survivors using a capabilities approach to social justice as part of a larger mixed-methods longitudinal study (N=380) in Ontario, Canada. Using thematic coding, four themes emerged: poverty, ‘You just try to survive’; stigma, ‘People treat you like trash’; belonging, ‘You feel like you don’t belong’; and shared concern and advocacy, ‘Everyone deserves housing’. This analysis provides a deeper understanding of poverty and other social determinants of experiences of psychiatric survivors, including the synergism of poverty and social exclusion.

Keywords:

• social exclusion
• psychiatric survivors
• social justice
• capabilities approach

Notes

1. Placing emphasis on survivorship, we use the term ‘psychiatric survivors’ to refer to those individuals with psychiatric system involvement who are surviving and are thus survivors in the face of social, psychiatric and systemic adversity.