Psychiatrists as social engineers: A study of an anti-stigma campaign

Anti-stigma campaigns in the field of mental health appeared in a variety of countries and organizations during the 1990s. This paper examines one of these—the ‘Changing Minds’ Campaign of the Royal College of Psychiatrists in Britain. The paper aims to elucidate the role the campaign played in the professional project of psychiatry and situate it in a wider context of both sociology and changes in mental health policy. The interest work involved is set in the context of the long-standing controversies surrounding psychiatric theory and practice, as well as the network of other agencies and actors seeking improvements in the citizenship of people with mental health problems in a post-institutional world.