A Critical Discourse Analysis of Mental Health Nursing and Social Work Literature Related to the Term “Personality Disorder”

A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the MA in Social Work

Personality disorders are a series of diagnostic criteria which describe a person who is perceived to have long lasting and ingrained patterns of behaviour which make it difficult for them to engage effectively in society and relationships with others. Personality disorders cover a range of apparently challenging behaviours, including those which are directed inwards towards the self, and outwards towards others. People diagnosed with personality disorders are an often misunderstood group and are often viewed by professionals as manipulative and attention seeking. These views disregard possible causes of behaviour, such it being a response to trauma or abuse, and blame the individual for acting in a way that inconveniences mental health services and the society around them.

In order to understand these stigmatising impressions, this paper seeks to examine the literature surrounding personality disorder, in particular the literature concerned with informing mental health nurses and social workers. Professionals who work in these fields follow professional codes which are intended to inform the values they use in their practice and these values will be further informed by the learning they do on university courses  These values promote a caring and considerate attitude in nurses, and emancipatory and anti-oppressive values in social workers, however evidence often shows that professionals are not able to maintain these values when working with people diagnosed with personality disorder (Markham and Trower, 2003). In light of this inconsistency, a Critical Discourse Analysis was used to interpret the language in textbooks and journals, in order to try and understand what might be causing some of this stigma.

The questions devised in order to answer the question of how personality disorder is perceived in the literature are as follows:
• To determine the key discourses which feature in mental health nursing and social work literature that relate to personality disorder.
• To investigate in what ways these discourses are discussed differ between these professional roles.
• To consider the possible impact of these discourses on people diagnosed with personality disorder.