Deinstitutionalisation in the republic of ireland: A case for re-definition?

This chapter seeks to investigate the extent to which the concepts of participation and empowerment have been realised in the practice of deinstitutionalisation in Ireland. It discusses the relevant findings from some pieces of research on Irish psychiatric practice. The deinstitutionalisation of people with mental illness must be seen as a process of social change, encompassing a shift from practices of exclusion to practices of participation. The interactional view of communication, initially developed in the field of family therapy, is a theoretical frame focusing on the process of human interaction. In institutional practices, phenomena like dependency and powerlessness can be sharply defined in terms of the deutero-learning premise, acquired in the learning contexts of human interaction. The research explored patterns of participation or exclusion in the process of psychiatric reform in Ireland. These patterns were analysed at the macro-level of policy making and at the micro-level of practice.