Elsevier

Alter

Volume 8, Issue 4, October–December 2014, Pages 245-255
Alter

Research Paper
Autonomy issues for young adults dealing with psychic disordersLes enjeux de l’autonomisation de jeunes adultes confrontés à des troubles psychiques☆

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Abstract

This paper describes and analyses the social uses of the notion of autonomy in the life courses of young adults confronting psychic disorders. It is based on a three-year longitudinal study, conducted under the auspices of doctoral research in sociology, with 21 young adults receiving treatment in psychiatric and medico-social institutions. We describe how the shared and divergent meanings attributed to autonomy lead to issues relating to young clients’ engagement in the work to support them.

Résumé

Nous proposons dans cet article de décrire et d’analyser les usages sociaux de la notion d’autonomie dans les parcours de jeunes adultes confrontés à des troubles psychiques. En nous appuyant sur une enquête longitudinale de trois ans, menée dans le cadre d’une thèse de sociologie auprès de 21 jeunes adultes pris en charge dans des institutions psychiatriques et médico-sociales, nous décrivons comment derrière des représentations différenciées ou partagées de l’autonomie, émergent des enjeux relatifs à l’engagement des jeunes usagers dans le travail d’accompagnement mené autour d’eux.

Keywords

Psychic disability
Engagement
Autonomy
Social Participation
Young adults

Mots clés

Handicap psychique
Engagement
Autonomie
Participation sociale
Jeunes adultes

Cited by (0)

☆

The subject of this article was presented at the ALTER Society conference in July 2012. The text is a product of doctoral research advised by François Sicot and Marcel Drulhe. The dissertation was submitted 9 December 2011. Two years of this research were funded by MIRe/DREES. I would like to thank Jean-Sébastien Eideliman for reading several versions of this text and making suggestions for improvement that allowed it to be published.

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