COUV ACTES - Psychologie communautaire

Community Psychology: Common Values, Diverse PracticesCapabilities Theory in Practice:collaborative research with people with an experience of mentalillnessby Beatrice Sacchetto 1 & Maria Vargas-Moniz 2The main aim of the study is to understand in-depth the role of a community-based organization in promotingcapabilities and effective integration in the community for individuals with severe mental illnesses.The private non-profit organization AEIPS - Association for the Study and Psychosocial Integration - was foundedin 1987, by a group of families, professionals and people who experience mental illness. Its mission is to promoterecovery through empowerment strategies and strengthen community-based services for people with mentalillness in order to increase their social integration in terms of employment, education, housing and social activitiesand to improve their quality of life and satisfaction. At present it runs a Community Center (105 users) and threegroup-homes, in the center of Lisbon city.The principal contractor of the research is the University Institute of Applied Psychology (ISPA) of Lisbon. Theresearch team is composed of members of the Research Unit Psychology and Health of the University Institute,research consultant Mary Beth Shinn (Vanderbilt, USA), a graduate of Catholic University of Milan (IT) and usersof the organization which agreed to collaborate.The main variables to be studied are dimensions of integration and capabilities such as employment, housing oreducation as well as variables related to quality of physical and emotional health, influence and belonging, accessand effective use of community resources and social networks (cf. Nussbaum, 2000).The recovery perspective used in this study includes the belief that all people, including those with a diagnosis ofmental illness, have a right to full community participation and membership.How should community participation be defined? We take two approaches. One derives from focus groups ofusers of the service studied here. The second is the theoretical capabilities framework inspired by the work ofSen (1993) and Nussbaum (2000). The capabilities approach was first introduced by the Indian economistAmartya Sen (1993, 1999), who was involved in the draft of the Human Development Report for the DevelopmentProgram of the United Nations. In this context, the capabilities approach has been proposed to evaluate andcompare individual quality of life.Subsequently the capabilities approach was developed and integrated by the philosopher Martha Nussbaum(1993, 2000), who has used this theory to study developing countries, including India, and particularly, womenwhose life conditions are very low. This approach recognized and valued human dignity, asking people what theycan do in their society - whether and to what extent - and if they are free to choose their own lives according to1Catholic University of Milan2University Institute ISPA of Lisbon239