A pioneering study which uses liberation theology to develop a socially and politically committed pastoral carePastoral care in the Northern hemisphere has traditionally focussed upon the well-being of individuals, ignoring the social order of which they are a part. This pioneering book draws on the methods and insights of Latin American liberation theology in order to present a new vision of socially and politically committed pastoral care.Pastoral care in the Northern hemisphere has traditionally focussed upon the well-being of individuals, ignoring the social order of which they are a part. This pioneering book draws on the methods and insights of Latin American liberation theology in order to present a new vision of socially and politically committed pastoral care.Pastoral care in the Northern hemisphere has focused traditionally on the well-being of individuals, and has tended to ignore the social order of which they are a part. In this pioneering book, Stephen Pattison draws on the methods and insights of Latin American liberation theology in order to challenge such narrow individualism, which is blind to matters of inequality and injustice that engender and perpetuate avoidable human suffering. A new vision of socially and politically aware pastoral care is presented as central to developing human potential.General editors' Preface; Preface; Acknowledgements; Introduction: The challenge of liberation theology; PART 1 - LIBERATION THEOLOGY; 1. The background to liberation theology; 2. The nature and content of liberation theology; 3. The methods of liberation theology; 4. Putting liberation theology to work; PART 2 - THE SOCO-POLITICAL CONTEXT OF PASTORAL CARE; 5. The socio-political context of mental disorder; 6. Who becomes mentally ill?; 7. The historical and social context of the psychiatric hospital; 8. The socio-political order of the psychiatric hospital: the staff; 9. The socio-political order of the psychiatric hospital: the patients; 10. The 'brave l#-