An Ethnographic Study of Psychosocial Suffering in Urban Social Care
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Traumatisation: An Ethnographic Study of Psychosocial Suffering in Urban Social Care
IRAS ID
313453
Contact name
Shoshana Lauter
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
London School of Economics and Political Science
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 6 months, 1 days
Research summary
Mental health services in England have experienced a significant cultural shift over the past fifty years, towards a therapeutic culture that enmeshes social problems with psychological ones. Trauma-informed care has become an increasingly prevalent lens in this shift, yet there has been little-to-no explication of its effects on those who receive it and how they regard it in turn. The proposed research will thus explore the subjective narratives of marginalised service users in relation to trauma-informed discourses and care practices. This ethnographic study will involve generation of observational and interview data from two providers of trauma-informed services in North London: a women’s residential crisis house (part of Camden and Islington NHS Trust) and an adult psychosis therapy and support group. Fieldwork will take place over eighteen months. Highly iterative data generation will be used to consider service users’ self-perceptions, senses of identity, and definitions of vulnerability and agency. A critical theory of the use of the concept of trauma in the care of marginalised populations will be developed. The concluding analysis will provide academics, practitioners, and policymakers alike a more detailed consideration of service user experience and the microlevel, psychosocial effects of this lens going forward.
REC name
London - Camden & Kings Cross Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
22/LO/0235
Date of REC Opinion
27 May 2022
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion