Deinstitutionalising Women: An Ethnographic Study of Institutional Closure

by Kelley Johnson

• ISBN13: 9780521623667
• ISBN10: 0521623669
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1998-10-13
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

This ethnographic study of deinstitutionalization explores the lives of women living in a locked ward within an institution for people with intellectual disabilities. Johnson describes in rich and carefully-observed detail the lives of the women in the institution largely through their own stories and experiences. The closure of this institution gave her a unique opportunity to closely examine the impact of deinstitutionalization on these women, and the book explores the paradoxical discourse of rights and management that is part of this process.

Table of Contents

Note to the Reader	viii	(1)
Acknowledgements	ix	(2)
The Women	xi
1 Entry Points	1	(18)
Rationale for the Study	1	(2)
The Research Methodology	3	(4)
The Positions of the Researcher	7	(9)
The Structure of this Book	16	(3)
Part I Inside the Institution	19	(60)
2 Life in the Unit	22	(23)
Unit N: Its Geography	22	(2)
The Women Living in the Unit	24	(3)
The Women of Unit N: A Snapshot	27	(3)
The Women Working in the Unit	30	(3)
Life in Unit N	33	(10)
Researcher/Participant	43	(2)
3 Paths to Unit N	45	(15)
The Women's Paths to the Institution	49	(4)
Paths to the Locked Unit	53	(5)
Researcher/Detective	58	(2)
4 Locked Out/Locked In	60	(19)
The Women of Unit N: `Failed Women'	61	(7)
How Were the Women Known?	68	(11)
Part II Coming Out	79	(88)
The Decision to Close Hilltop	80	(1)
The Stages of Closing Hilltop	81	(3)
5 The Unlocked Door	84	(14)
The Women's World	84	(6)
The Wider Context	90	(4)
Researcher/Exile/Negotiator	94	(4)
6 Stepping Forward	98	(32)
Client Consultation on Relocation (CCOR) and Matching	98	(4)
Constraints on CCOR and Matching	102	(3)
The Women's Experience of CCOR	105	(5)
Families, Advocates and CCOR	110	(1)
Staff in the Unit and CCOR	111	(1)
The Convenors and CCOR	112	(4)
The Closure Project Team Managers	116	(1)
The Women's Experience of Matching	117	(5)
Families and Advocates: the Matching Experience	122	(1)
Unit Staff and Matching	123	(2)
The Convenors and the Matching Process	125	(2)
Closure Project Team Managers and Matching	127	(1)
Researcher/Advocate	128	(2)
7 Leaving Hilltop	130	(16)
The Women and the Last Six Months	131	(5)
Advocates, Families and the Last Six Months	136	(1)
Staff and the Last Six Months	137	(1)
Convenors and the Last Six Months	138	(3)
Closure Project Team Managers and the Last Six Months	141	(2)
Researcher/Story Teller	143	(3)
8 Deinstitutionalisation: Managing Subjectivities	146	(21)
Deinstitutionalisation and the Women	146	(3)
Deinstitutionalisation and Rights	146	(6)
Deinstitutionalisation and Management	155	(9)
The Silence of the Women	164	(3)
Part III Outside	167	(21)
9 Escaping Stories	169	(19)
Objectification of the Women	170	(9)
Functions of the Intellectual Disability Discourse	179	(6)
Conclusion	185	(3)
Glossary	188	(2)
Bibliography	190	(19)
Index	209