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Recasting research into children's experiences of parental mental illness: Beyond risk and resilience

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  • Gladstone, Brenda McConnell
  • Boydell, Katherine M.
  • McKeever, Patricia

Abstract

Children who live with a mentally ill parent are viewed primarily as being 'at risk' of developing a mental illness themselves and those who remain well are considered extraordinarily resilient. This particular risk/resilience discourse is embedded within larger contemporary discourses about risk and childhood. Childhood is seen as a critical period of development during which children need protection due to their physical and psychological vulnerabilities. In this paper, the implications of this dominant casting of children are explored and it is argued that the conceptual repertoire about those living with a mentally ill parent should be expanded. A critique of the literature that established the risk/resilience discourse is followed by a discussion of research about parenting with a mental illness within which children are surprisingly absent. Recent thinking about children arising out of the 'new' social studies of childhood is summarized to illustrate its resistance to the hegemonic image of children as passive, developing, 'unfinished' persons. A recasting of children as complex young persons who have competencies as well as vulnerabilities linked to their developmental stages, would lead to different lines of inquiry about children's experiences of mental illness in a parent.

Suggested Citation

  • Gladstone, Brenda McConnell & Boydell, Katherine M. & McKeever, Patricia, 2006. "Recasting research into children's experiences of parental mental illness: Beyond risk and resilience," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 62(10), pages 2540-2550, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:62:y:2006:i:10:p:2540-2550
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Trondsen, Marianne & Sandaunet, Anne-Grete, 2009. "The dual role of the action researcher," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 13-20, February.
    2. Grove, Christine & Riebschleger, Joanne & Bosch, Annick & Cavanaugh, Daniel & van der Ende, Peter C., 2017. "Expert views of children's knowledge needs regarding parental mental illness," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 249-255.
    3. Heljä Pihkala & Mikael Sandlund & Anita Cederström, 2012. "Children in Beardslee’s family intervention: Relieved by understanding of parental mental illness," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 58(6), pages 623-628, November.
    4. Margareta Östman & Maria Afzelius, 2011. "Children’s Representatives in Psychiatric Services: What Is the Outcome?," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 57(2), pages 144-152, March.
    5. Rojalini Sahoo & Damodar Suar, 2009. "Do Young Carers Deserve Justice? Young Caring in the Context of Illness," Psychology and Developing Societies, , vol. 21(1), pages 133-150, January.
    6. Emma Loudon & Gavin Davidson & Kathryn Higgins & Anne Grant, 2022. "PROTOCOL: The support needs of families living with parental mental illness: A qualitative systematic review," Campbell Systematic Reviews, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 18(3), September.

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