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Mental Health and Social Work pp 1–20Cite as

Legal Provisions, Advocacy, and Empowerment

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Part of the book series: Social Work ((SOWO))

Abstract

This chapter discusses mental health as a field of social work practice in which care and control dimensions are combined. It will explain the purpose of mental health legislation and how risk has influenced law, policy, and practice. The impact of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Person with Disabilities (CRPD 2007), the international human rights instrument governing the rights of people with disabilities, will be considered, especially in relation to how it has led to considerable expectation that mental health law and policy, and social work practice, needs to be reconsidered with increased emphasis on human rights. The chapter moves on to focus on community treatment orders and supported decision-making as the two contexts of social work practice that illustrate the challenges. Finally, there is discussion about how social workers can engage in individual and systemic advocacy and support consumer empowerment. A contemporary challenge for social workers in mental health is ensuring that the obligations that many countries now hold to the CRPD are upheld.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Allied Health, Human Services and Sport, College of Science, Health & Engineering, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Lisa Brophy

  2. Centre for Mental Health, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Lisa Brophy

  3. Mind Australia, Heidelberg, VIC, Australia

    Lisa Brophy

Authors
  1. Lisa Brophy
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Correspondence to Lisa Brophy .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. National University of Singapore , Singapore, Singapur, Singapore

    Rosaleen Ow

  2. University New South Wales , Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Abner Weng Cheong Poon

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Brophy, L. (2019). Legal Provisions, Advocacy, and Empowerment. In: Ow, R., Cheong Poon, A. (eds) Mental Health and Social Work. Social Work. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-0440-8_18-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-0440-8_18-1

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  • Print ISBN: 978-981-13-0440-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-13-0440-8

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