Class, Neoliberalism, and Mental Health: a case study of the Cardiff Health Area.

This research project deploys a multi-method case study approach to better understand the relationship between class, neoliberalism, and mental health in the Cardiff Health Area. Quantitative analyses reveal that class has a more statistically significant influence on the prevalence of mental ill-health than deprivation. Qualitative analyses situate phenomenological experiences of mental health and healthcare within the context of a neoliberal, class-divided society. This dissertation thus argues that, at the macro-level of society, neoliberal hegemonic forces individualise responsibility for the development and management of psychological distress. Individualising discourses are then propelled at the microlevel by the immunising model of governmentality, in interactions between service users and healthcare professionals, whereby psychological distress is framed as internal to individuals. Combined, these theories explain how the neoliberal paradigm of mental health is constructed and reproduced. The dissertation concludes that by circumventing the role of social inequalities, the neoliberal paradigm of mental health inhibits the development of critical, class consciousness. Future research which focuses on class and deprivation as determinants of mental ill-health could contribute to a paradigm shift in mental health discourses, away from individual responsibility and towards the root causes, i.e., the fragmentary nature of neoliberalism in a class-divided and unequal society.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

Master of Philosophy (MPhil)

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

Masters

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

University of Cambridge

Year dc:date.issued

2023

Author dc:creator

• Smith, Ryan

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Ramsden, Mark

Licence

• https://www.rioxx.net/licenses/all-rights-reserved/

Language dc:language

eng

DOI dc:identifier.doi

https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.109739

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.repository.cam.ac.uk:1810/370268