title: Visual and narrative representations of mental health and addiction by law enforcement.
abstract: In Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada's third largest city, the Vancouver Police Department (VPD), has positioned itself as being at the forefront of mental health regulation. The VPD problematization of the "mental health crisis" in Vancouver draws on discourses of addiction and dangerousness. This is partially achieved by the twinning of mental health with addiction (dual diagnoses) and a focus on illegal drug consumption, and is supported through law enforcement's role as active claims-makers. Consequently, there is a mobilization of resources to identify, discipline, and contain people identified as mentally ill and addicted with little examination of both the textual and visual discourses that serve this purpose. This article addresses this gap through an analysis of the images and discursive framing of people with mental illness and addictions by the VPD in two Vancouver Police Department reports published in 2008 and 2009.
authors.affiliation: Urban Health Research Initiative, British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, St. Paul's Hospital & Department of Sociology, University of British Columbia, Canada. Electronic address: boydjade@mail.ubc.ca.
authors.forename: Jade
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Boyd
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Human and Social Development, University of Victoria, PO Box 1700 STN CSC, Victoria, BC, Canada V8W2Y2.
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Boyd
authors.affiliation: Urban Health Research Initiative, British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, St. Paul's Hospital & Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Canada.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kerr
mesh_terms: D001955:British Columbia; D017831:Diagnosis, Dual (Psychiatry); D055030:Drug Users / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D006801:Humans; D035846:Law Enforcement / Q000379:methods*; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D008603:Mental Health / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D028642:Persons with Psychiatric Disorders / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D016495:Police; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: Mental health and addiction; Policing; Urban space; Visual representation, Textual representation