From Social Exclusion to Inclusion? A Critique of the Inclusion Imperative in Mental Health

Abstract

This paper critically explores notions of social inclusion in mental health and considers some of the problems associated with its wide scale adoption as a policy driver and moral imperative. It draws out some of the assumptions underpinning strategies of inclusion and possible consequences of the move from a focus on exclusion to imperatives to ‘include’. It argues that these assumptions may lead to individualised practices guided by judgments as to what constitutes a ‘healthy’ or ‘normal’ life. Rather than being seen as a necessary and unquestionable ‘human right’ or a top-down form of social engineering, social inclusion can be viewed as a paradoxical claim which both expresses a genuine demand to tackle the consequences of social inequality and yet at the same could become another way people with mental health problems are subject to moral and social regulation.