In the twentieth century, Canadian psychologists have been involved with the educational system and the community at several points in time. In this article, the psychology of human development as developed at the Department of Psychology at the University of Toronto from 1916 to 1956 is investigated. In a variety of projects, the mental health of children was investigated in educational settings while measures were designed and tested to prevent maladjustment and to promote mental health. Initially, research and intervention aimed at adjusting school children to the educational setting. Later, a critical perspective on social institutions and Canadian society was articulated.

Dans cet article, nous cherchons è comprendre l'évolution des pratiques « ailleurs » et « autrement » que les ressources alternatives communautaires au Québec ont proné et pronent toujours. è cette fin, nous préciserons d'abord le sens et la signification des notions d'« ailleurs « et d'» autrement » dans le contexte de la transformation du système de santé mentale au Québec depuis 1989. Nous présenterons ensuite les résultats d'une recherche exploratoire effectuée entre 1997 et 1999 auprès de coordonnateurs/intervenants et coordonnatrices/intervenantes et de participants et participantes de 6 ressources communautaires en santé mentale d'un territoire sociosanitaire semi-urbain du Québec. Les résultats de cette recherche démontrent le bien-fondé de certaines craintes de « déradicalisation » des ressources alternatives en santé mentale. En effect, notre analyse suggère le déroulement d'un processus complexe comprenant è la fois la nature de l'insertion des alternatives dans le système public plus large, leurs dynamiques internes ainsi que les limites émergentes de la vision de l'» ailleurs « et de l'» autrement » qui les a guidé jusqu'è maintenant. Après plus de 20 ans d'existence, est-ce que le sens de l'ailleurs « et de l'autrement » en santé mentale au Québec est sur le point de se réinventer?

Suicide is a major mental health and public health problem in Canada. Canada's suicide rate ranks above average in comparison to countries around the world. The prevention of suicide predates the European presence in Canada and much can be learned from these endeavours. Current efforts grew largely from the grass roots, with little government support or initiative (with a few provincial/territorial exceptions). Canada's community efforts have been diverse and inclusive. Among such efforts have been: (a) traditional approaches among Native peoples, (b) the establishment of the first crisis centre in Sudbury in the 1960s, (c) the development of a comprehensive model in Alberta, (d) the beginning of a survivor movement in the 1980s, and (c) the national prevention efforts of the Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention. There are, however, striking lacks—most notable among them the paucity of support for research in Canada. Future efforts will call for even greater community response to prevent suicide and to promote wellness.

The practice of psychiatric rehabilitation is a concept and method that developed in urban-based settings. It has become a widely used guiding principle in mental health practice. This research examines how psychiatric rehabilitation fits within a remote First Nations community. Ten people—service providers, consumers, and family members—were interviewed to gather information about their perceptions of and experiences within the mental health system. The interview material was examined using content analysis. The results suggest that geographic and economic factors create serious barriers to application of the psychiatric rehabilitation method in a remote First Nations community.

Community psychology arose in the 1960s, in the United States, as a response to: (a) pressure to move toward more community based mental health services, and (b) clinical psychologists asking themselves why they were individually treating and conceptualizing large numbers of people who had similar presenting problems. They realized that the social context of their clients' lives was paramount in determining their emotional health. In 1990, 1 brought a community psychology perspective to designing and implementing a farm stress program in Saskatchewan. I describe how community psychology values and practices, community development, and mental health promotion are applied to this program. I discuss the value of conceptualizing mental health issues, such as farm stress, from the perspective of individuals-in-communities and discuss considerations for future applications of a community psychology approach to similar and other mental health issues.

L'histoire de la psychiatrie a été écrite par des personnes qui l'ont observée bien plus que vécue. En effet, ce sont des gens qui ont analysé l'asile qui en ont décrit, depuis les années 1960 en particulier, les conditions et contradictions. Cet article se démarque de la littérature classique dans ce domaine en ce sens qu'il étudie quelques écrits des personnes ayant un vécu psychiatrique (p.v.p.) afin d'explorer le sens qui se dégage de leur parole et de leur expérience en psychiatrie. Suite è l'étude de 5 ressources en provenance du Québec, du Nouveau-Brunswick, de l'Ontario et du World Wide Web, l'auteur met en valeur certaines forces et stratégies d'existence décrites dans ces lieux d'écriture dirigés par les p.v.p.; il souligne du méme coup la riche diversité de leurs expressions. C'est tous les jours l'entraide entre nous, des menus services aux confidences, de la consolation è l'encouragement mutuel. Et de vivre ça jour après jour me convainquait de plus en plus que les vrais fous n'étaient pas ici è l'intérieur, mais dehors, en liberté, ceux qui par leur cruauté nous avaient rendus si malheureux. Nous n'étions pas malades mais simplement malheureux (SolidaritéPsychiatrie, 1984, p. 214).

Ayant pris depuis peu sa retraite comme professeur à t'Écote de Psychologie de l'Université Laval, Jérôme Guay poursuit ses activités de consultant auprès d'organismes de services publics et d'associations communautaires. En plus de ses activités comme formateur et consultant auprès d'équipes en santé mentale, il a aussi participé à la mise sur pied des projets visant une meilleure intégration des personnes psychiatrisées à la communauté, en y impliquant le citoyen et la citoyenne ordinaire. Within the Regional Plans for the Organization of Services, Quebec's mental health reform has tried to redistribute power and influence to mutual aid groups for consumers and their families. However, it has failed to provide them with the financial resources that would allow them to exert that new power. The groups don't have enough personnel to fill the decision-making positions accorded to them under the regional plans while, at the same time, continuing to provide services to consumers. Real partnership requires equality in resources. Social integration being the product of an interaction between consumers and citizens, citizens are the forgotten actors of the interaction. We fail to support them when they are faced with behaviours that they find strange and disturbing. Attitudinal and behavioural changes are interrelated and concomitant; that is, the transformation of citizens' prejudice into acceptance is helped by consumers' efforts to adopt less offensive behaviours. Dr. Leonard R. Denton's professional career has spanned the fields of education, social work, program evaluation, research, and clinical psychology, in both institutional and community mental health settings. He is an advocate for community mental health and prevention programs aimed at decreasing the risk of mental/emotional and social disorders. In 1971, Denton was the primary founder of Atlantic Behavioural Science Applications, an organization for promoting the use of scientifically derived knowledge in the planning, operation, and evaluation of human service programs. On three occasions, his volunteer efforts have been recognized by the Canadian Mental Health Association, the most recent in 1998 when he received the Dr. C.M. Hincks Award for the advancement of mental health. In the same year, he was given recognition in the Nova Scotia Legislature for his service and contribution to the mental health profession. A native Nova Scotian. Dr. Denton lives in Truro. Nova Scotia, where he operates a private practice. Analysing individual reactions—omnipotence or helplessness—to the question put forward in this symposium, the author observes that the same reactions are present in the mental health field. Investigation of these reactions shows that they alternate in time and are based on a quest for recognition. This quest follows a pattern: First, a group proclaims new knowledge which is based on a fantasy. Then, when this group obtains recognition with its corresponding power, making the transition from a position of impotence to one of power, the fantasy becomes an illusion of omnipotence which excludes others, triggering the cycle again in the excluded groups. This pattern could explain the evolution of the mental health field over the last four decades. Over the last few years, however, there have been some failures in this process, and the author suggests possible solutions to move beyond the impasse. Cyril Greenland is Professor Emeritus in the School of Social Work at McMaster University and is President of the Museum of Mental Health Services (Toronto) Inc. He served as Social Work Advisor in Mental Health to the Ontario Ministry of Health from 1960 to 1966. Abram Hoffer was born on a farm in Southern Saskatchewan in 1917 and has maintained an interest in food from the farm gate to the dinner plate. After obtaining a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota and an M.D. from the University of Toronto, he become Director of Psychiatric Research for the Province of Saskatchewan in 1950 and Professor of Psychiatry in 1955. In 1967, he went into private practice in Saskatoon and moved to Victoria in 1976, where he continues to practice. Dr. Hoffer has published some 20 books and over 600 papers. He is Editor of the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine and President of the Canadian Schizophrenia Foundation. His main interst is to see effective treatment provided for all schizophrenics—something which is not yet offered by modern psychiatry. Over the second half of the twentieth century, the way in which Canadian society treats people with mental challenges has changed radically, from exclusion and containment in asylums to reintegration and maintenance in the community. Now that deinstitutionalization is practically complete, the objective has increasingly shifted from reintegrating people with severe mental challenges in their communities to upholding their rights and ensuring that they have access to resources allowing them to assume their ...