Learning and Unlearning: Two Social Workers’ Autoethnographic Exploration into Mad Studies

Abstract

Mad studies focuses on the lived experiences of people involved with the mental health system, a system that is structured so that well-intentioned social workers can become complicit in the oppression of individuals with “mental illness.” Mad studies offers social work an alternative to the biomedical construction of mental health. This autoethnography explores the ways in which two seasoned social workers and graduate students experienced a Mad studies informed social justice class. Through the use of journal entries and discussion, we explore the process of learning new ways of thinking and working alongside individuals from a more socially just perspective.