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Stigmatised attitudes towards intellectual disability: a randomised crossover trial
- Authors:
- VARUGHESE Sabu John, LUTY Jason
- Journal article citation:
- Psychiatrist (The), 34(8), August 2010, pp.318-322.
- Publisher:
- Royal College of Psychiatrists
A major UK government objective is to tackle discrimination, stigma and inequalities in mental health – with stigma being a social construct that devalues people due to distinguishing characteristics or marks. Yet people with intellectual disabilities continue to suffer serious stigma and discrimination. The study aimed to determine the effect of viewing a picture of a person with intellectual disability on stigmatised attitudes. The 20-point Attitude to Mental Illness Questionnaire (AMIQ) was used and a representative panel of members of the general public were randomised to complete the questionnaire either with or without looking at a picture of a man with Down syndrome. Six months later the same experiment was performed with the groups crossed over. Results were received for 360 participants. It was theorised that looking at the picture would produce a more negatively stigmatised attitude than simply asking participants to complete the test without viewing pictures. However, findings showed that after examination of the picture attitudes were actually reduced by a small by significant extent, possibly by personalising the description and producing a more sympathetic response. The actual sequence of the test had no significant effect on the outcome. In conclusion, the author suggests that looking at a picture of a young man with Down syndrome significantly reduces reported stigmatised attitudes.
Racism, IQ and Down's Syndrome
- Author:
- BORTHWICK Chris
- Journal article citation:
- Disability and Society, 11(3), September 1996, pp.403-410.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
There is a consistent difference of some 15 IQ points between the test means of American black and white citizens, and there has been a fierce debate as to whether this can be best accounted for by black intellectual inferiority or by such environmental factors as prejudice and discrimination. However, even supporters of the environmental hypothesis have neglected to apply it to the population - people with Down's Syndrome - to which it is most clearly applicable, and this failure of imagination indicates the boundaries of discourse in the field of intellectual disability. Discusses the complex relationship between racism and prejudice against people with disability.