1. Minimising Coerciveness in Coercion: A Case Study of Social Work Powers under the Victorian Mental Health Act.
- Author
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Maylea, Chris
- Subjects
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MENTAL health service laws , *SOCIAL stigma , *PROFESSIONAL ethics of social workers , *CONTROL (Psychology) , *DIGNITY , *HUMAN rights , *CASE studies , *HEALTH policy , *POWER (Social sciences) , *RISK management in business , *SOCIAL case work , *SOCIAL services , *SOCIAL workers , *PROFESSIONAL practice , *PREVENTION - Abstract
The balance between care and control in mental health social work is one of constant tension. In the State of Victoria, Australia, the Mental Health Act 2014 gives coercive powers to social workers employed by public mental health services. These include the power to decide if a person needs to be assessed by a psychiatrist, to "take" a person using bodily restraint, to enter premises, and to search and seize a person's belongings. This paper applies a doctrinal analysis to examine the law, then argues that the use of these powers by social workers, where safe, may be less restrictive than when they are used by police or paramedics. The exercise of these powers may be less traumatic and stigmatising to the people who are subject to them, and social workers may be both legally and ethically obligated to use coercion when appropriate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2017
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