The principles of Recovery have become prominent in shaping UK health care policy across the lifespan. However there has been little research conducted to determine Recovery's applicability to young people or their families. This study therefore aimed to explore whether a Recovery concept was relevant to the family's experience of childhood mental illness. Method A qualitative methodology was applied to the study. 11 participants took part in semi-structured interviews. A social constructionist position was adopted and Abbreviated Grounded Theory was used to analyse the transcripts. Results Four related categories were constructed from the data, including "Experiencing Distress". "Family Reactivity, "Gaining Control as Individuals" and "Adjusting the Status Quo". Individuals' search for containment and connection resonated as core processes across categories. Conclusions The constructed model was compared against the current literature on Recovery. Whilst the data did not support the notion of a collective Family Recovery, similarities with the Recovery literature supported an argument for the presence of a Family Member Recovery process. However, a direct transfer from the adult literature could not be supported in the data, with clear differences identified between the current conceptualisation and the themes within the adult Family Recovery literature. A critique of the study was considered and implications of the results for policy, practise and research development were discussed.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:600021 |
| Date | January 2013 |
| Creators | Austin, Katie |
| Publisher | University of Surrey |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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