Sonia Masciantonio

Research Interests :
My research interests are women's and infant mental health. I am currently studying a PhD through the Discipline of Psychiatry after receiving first class honours in Anthropology. As such, my current doctorial research uses Anthropological techniques to research mental health questions. Using the qualitative research technique of ethnography (commonly used in Anthropology) my research will provide a contextual analysis of experiences of women suffering from postnatal mental illness, while receiving psychiatric inpatient care. This project addresses the ways in which patients, staff and visitors to the inpatient facility interpret and make sense of postnatal mental illness by addressing the context within which these experiences are constructed. A crucial element of this research is discovering how the knowledge and practice of this mental health context, demonstrated by mental health staff, shapes the experiences of postnatal mentally ill mothers.

Supervisor Details :
Associate Professor Anna Chur-Hansen, Discipline of Psychiatry
anna . churhansen@adelaide . edu . au

Dr Susan Hemer, Discipline of Anthropology
http://www.adelaide.edu.au/directory/susan.hemer

Contact Details:
Level 4 Eleanor Harrald Building
Royal Adelaide Hospital.

Email:
sonia.masciantonio@student.adelaide.edu.au