Mental Health Ethics: The Human Context [Paperback]

‘I was personally fairly familiar with and committed to the underlying thesis and found much that resonated with my values. That is, the essence of ethical practice is a lot about values, but values demonstrated rather than merely espoused. After reading this text, I felt better able to articulate the issues and found myself recommending it (or particular chapters) to students. It deserves a wide readership, as it will surely assist people to develop ethical sensitivity and importantly to ponder the important questions that confront anyone working within mental health services.’ – Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing

'Well written, accessible and thought provoking...if you are undertaking any study that stimulates discussion around the working practices of your profession, a great deal of what it contains will be relevant despite the mental health emphasis.' – MIDIRS

All human behaviour is, ultimately, a moral undertaking, in which each situation must be considered on its own merits. As a result ethical conduct is complex. Despite the proliferation of Codes of Conduct and other forms of professional guidance, there are no easy answers to most human problems. Mental Health Ethics encourages readers to heighten their awareness of the key ethical dilemmas found in mainstream contemporary mental health practice.

This text provides an overview of traditional and contemporary ethical perspectives and critically examines a range of ethical and moral challenges present in contemporary ‘psychiatric-mental’ health services. Offering a comprehensive and interdisciplinary perspective, it includes six parts, each with their own introduction, summary and set of ethical challenges, covering:

• fundamental ethical principles;
• legal issues;
• specific challenges for different professional groups;
• working with different service user groups;
• models of care and treatment;
• recovery and human rights perspectives.

Providing detailed consideration of issues and dilemmas, Mental Health Ethics helps all mental health professionals keep people at the centre of the services they offer.