Seal Emma-Louise, Flore Jacinthe, Kokanović Renata, Borovica Tamara, Duff Cameron, Thomas Stuart D M, Rao Sathya, Chanen Andrew
School of Global, Urban and Social Studies, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia.
School of Historical and Philosophical Studies, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia.
Health Sociol Rev. 2025 Jul;34(2):183-199. doi: 10.1080/14461242.2024.2391437. Epub 2024 Aug 19.
This article focuses on the workplace experiences of peer workers with a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder (BPD) in mental healthcare settings in Australia. Our article is located at the intersection of political, social, cultural, and legislative forces that have fostered the development of peer work as a paid profession. We draw on the concept of stigma to analyse findings from qualitative interviews with peer workers conducted in [state], Australia. By examining peer work in the broader context of lifeworlds of BPD, we address the interplay of work and professional identity, and the experience of a profoundly stigmatised diagnosis at this intersection.Our findings demonstrate the physical and emotional effects of stigma and how it produces boundaries and inequalities between peer workers and other health practitioners. These boundaries are reinforced by invisible markers that delineate what is expected, 'normal' and deemed professional in the workplace. Moreover, these same medico-socio-political relations help shape peer workers' identities and experiences. The development of peer workforces in mental healthcare service delivery is a prominent area of reform in Australia and internationally. Our research highlights the urgency of efforts to transform current socio-cultural-political relations that inhibit peer workers in their roles and impact workplace experiences.
本文聚焦于澳大利亚精神卫生保健机构中被诊断患有边缘型人格障碍（BPD）的同伴工作人员的职场经历。我们的文章处于多种力量的交汇点，这些政治、社会、文化和立法力量推动了同伴工作发展成为一种有偿职业。我们运用污名化概念来分析在澳大利亚[州]对同伴工作人员进行定性访谈的结果。通过在BPD生活世界的更广泛背景下审视同伴工作，我们探讨了工作与职业身份的相互作用，以及在这个交汇点上被严重污名化诊断的经历。我们的研究结果表明了污名化的身体和情感影响，以及它如何在同伴工作人员和其他医疗从业者之间产生界限和不平等。这些界限通过无形的标志得到强化，这些标志界定了职场中被期望的、“正常的”以及被视为专业的行为。此外，这些相同的医学 - 社会 - 政治关系有助于塑造同伴工作人员的身份和经历。在精神卫生保健服务提供中发展同伴工作队伍是澳大利亚和国际上一个突出的改革领域。我们的研究强调了努力改变当前抑制同伴工作人员发挥作用并影响职场经历的社会文化 - 政治关系的紧迫性。
