Download or read book The Social Nature of Mental Illness written by Dr. Leonard Bowers and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2003-09-02 with total page 340 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Psychiatrists assert that mental illness is a physiological brain disorder. The anti-psychiatry movement refutes this on grounds of lack of evidence claiming that mental illness is socially defined. Len Bowers offers a rational, objective and philosophical critique of the theories of mental illness as a social construct and concludes that, though sometimes misguided, they cannot be wholly rejected. This critical scrutiny of a controversial and keenly-debated issue will be of interest to psychologists, social workers, psychiatrists, sociologists and professionals in paramedical disciplines.