Mental health legislation in New Zealand from 1846 to date: A discourse analysis
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Authors
Ball, Christopher
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Degree
Master of Nursing
Grantor
Eastern Institute of Technology
Date
2010
Supervisors
Thompson, Shona
Williamson, Alasdair
Williamson, Alasdair
Type
Masters Thesis
Ngā Upoko Tukutuku (Māori subject headings)
Keyword
New Zealand
mental health
legislation
nurses
Māori mental health
discourse analysis
mental health
legislation
nurses
Māori mental health
discourse analysis
ANZSRC Field of Research Code (2020)
Citation
Ball, C. A. (2010). Mental health legislation in New Zealand from 1846 to date: A discourse analysis. (Unpublished document submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Nursing). Eastern Institute of Technology (EIT), New Zealand.
Abstract
This thesis presents an analysis of the legislation pertaining to mental health in New Zealand dating from 1846 to the present. It is based on discourse analysis (Gee, 2005; Given, 2008; McClosky, 2008; Stevenson, 2004), which is grounded in an historical genealogy (Kendall & Wickham, 1999; Slembrouck, 2006). Mental health problems have probably been around since the birth of humanity. However, legislation around the issue is a fairly recent phenomenon.
Historically the gradual trend towards involuntary incarceration ensued from the various laws that came into being in the United Kingdom. A study of those laws is pertinent because the early New Zealand legal system directly mirrored what had been happening in the U.K. Since 1846 there has been a series of legislation enacted in New Zealand that deal with mental health issues. This study focuses on the nomenclature of those laws and their attempts to define what constituted lunacy, mental defect, and latterly mental health. None of those definitions have been totally satisfactory and demonstrate inconsistencies, as well as opposition to other laws.
The thesis highlights how these laws have resulted in the taking away of people’s liberties. Furthermore, under current legislation, nurses in New Zealand have become the frontline enforcers of the law, a situation in direct conflict with their role of therapeutic agent. It is argued that the role of officer of the law is a function that should not come under the purview of health professionals, particularly since those laws are more about public safety than patient care, and the fact that most Duly Authorised Officers are nurses is a step too far away for the therapeutic role.
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