Symbolism of community I: the boundary between hospital and community.
OBJECTIVE
To study the symbolism of community as understood and practised in a mental health Crisis and Assessment Service in an Australian city.
The paper draws on anthropological theories of symbolism and boundary work.


METHODS
Ethnographic fieldwork techniques were employed for data collection. Ethnographic analysis was then applied to these data.


RESULTS
In mental health practice, community is primarily defined in contradistinction to hospital. Narratives about community, including an orthodox version and a sceptical counter-narrative, revolve around this community-hospital boundary.


CONCLUSIONS
This analysis identifies a key symbol, which we have designated community, and enumerates the social values that comprise it.
Barrett
Robert J
RJ
University of Adelaide, Department of Psychiatry ant the Royal Adelaide Hospital, South Australia. robert.barrett@adelaide.edu.au
Parker
Damon B
DB
D000883:Anthropology; D003156:Community Mental Health Services; D003159:Community-Institutional Relations; D006778:Hospitals, Psychiatric; D006801:Humans; D033262:Narration; D010361:Patients / Q000523:psychology*; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D013561:Symbolism