Crisis in the Community

Description

African Caribbeans are 44% more likely to be sectioned, 29% more likely to be forcibly restrained, 50% more likely to be placed in seclusion, and make up 30% of in-patients on medium secure psychiatric wards. This is the stark reality of the African Caribbean experience of mental health in the UK, one which is comparable to the mental health system in South Africa during apartheid, according to Lee Jasper, Chair of the African Caribbean Mental Health Commission. Combining anecdotal evidence from African Caribbean service users and the opinions of African Caribbean mental health professionals, Crisis in the Community explores the reasons behind the disproportionate rates of mental health among a community that comprises only 1% of the country's population. It recounts in full the tragic death of David Bennett at the Norvic Clinic in 1998 and the subsequent independent inquiry which identified institutional racism within mental health services. And it looks at what is being done - and what still needs to be done - to break the culture of fear and mistrust among African Caribbeans towards the mental health system.

About the Author

David Burke is from Mullingar in Ireland and has been living in the UK since 1990. As a journalist he contributes regularly to Rock'n'Reel and Mental Health Today magazines, and works as a Subtitler with Red Bee Media. Married to Shirley, he has a son, Dylan, and stepdaughter, Francesca.