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Mental illness as social product or social construct: a contradiction in feminists’ arguments?
Author(s) -
Busfield Joan
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
sociology of health and illness
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.146
H-Index - 97
eISSN - 1467-9566
pISSN - 0141-9889
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9566.1988.tb00056.x
Subject(s) - oppression , contradiction , construct (python library) , mental illness , sociology , task (project management) , product (mathematics) , face (sociological concept) , psychology , social constructionism , social psychology , gender studies , epistemology , social science , mental health , politics , psychotherapist , philosophy , political science , law , computer science , geometry , mathematics , management , economics , programming language
Feminists have been taken to task for suggesting both that the higher level of mental illness observed in women is a consequence of the oppression they face ‐ an oppression which drives them into madness and mental disorder ‐ and also that the concept of mental illness is a social construct inappropriately and incorrectly applied to women by a patriarchal order as a means of social control. This paper examines this supposed contradiction and the ideas that underly the contrasting contentions. It argues that the two positions are not in fact incompatible.