ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a set of factors that are most pertinent in understanding the ‘shared power and silenced service users’. It explores the power imbalance that is weighted in favour of psychiatrists over service users first. The chapter discusses why family members have the significant role in the decision-making. The discretion in determining a number of critical issues, particularly the imposition of restraints on service users, reflects the visible and explicit power retained by Chinese psychiatrists. The structure of shared power is most evident in the decision-making for detention for treatment and discharge. Mental health laws worldwide have created coercive environments and power imbalances within mental health services. The chapter addresses the confusing and problematic relationship between the capacity to litigate and the capacity for civil conduct in judicial practice, followed by an analysis of the implications for service users’ in attempting to access justice.
