title: A critical analysis of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services policy in England.
abstract: Policy on Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) in England has undergone radical changes in the last 15 years, with far reaching implications for funding models, access to services and service delivery. Using corpus analysis and critical discourse analysis, we explore how childhood, mental health and CAMHS are constituted in 15 policy documents, 9 pre-2010 and 6 post-2010. We trace how these constructions have changed over time and consider the practice implications of these changes. We identify how children's distress is individualised, through medicalising discourses and shifting understandings of the relationship between socio-economic context and mental health. This is evidenced in a shift from seeing children's mental health challenges as produced by social and economic inequities to a view that children's mental health must be addressed early to prevent future socio-economic burden. We consider the implications of CAMHS policies for the relationship between children, families, mental health services and the state. The article concludes by exploring how concepts of 'parity of esteem' and 'stigma reduction' may inadvertently exacerbate the individualisation of children's mental health.
authors.affiliation: 1 Division of Psychology, University of Northampton, UK.
authors.forename: Jane Em
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Callaghan
authors.affiliation: 2 University of East London, UK.
authors.forename: Lisa Chiara
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Fellin
authors.affiliation: 1 Division of Psychology, University of Northampton, UK.
authors.forename: Fiona
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Warner-Gale
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D016497:Adolescent Health Services; D002648:Child; D002662:Child Health Services; D004739:England; D006291:Health Policy; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D008603:Mental Health; D008605:Mental Health Services; D057545:Social Stigma; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors
keywords: CAMHS; CAMHS policy; Child and adolescent mental health; discourse analysis; health inequalities; parity of esteem; policy; stigma