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The mark of shame: stigma of mental illness and an agenda for change
- Author:
- HINSHAW Stephen P.
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- Publication year:
- 2007
- Pagination:
- 331p., bibliog.
- Place of publication:
- Oxford
In this book, the author examines the longstanding tendency to stigmatize those with mental illness. He also provides practical strategies for overcoming this serious problem, including enlightened social policies that encourage, rather than discourage, contact with those afflicted, media coverage emphasizing their underlying humanity, family education, and responsive treatment. Stigma is a deeply inspiring and passionate work that is realistic and filled with hope. It combines personal accounts with information from social and evolutionary psychology, sociology, and public policy to provide messages that are essential for anyone afflicted or familiar with mental illness.
Media frames of mental illnesses: the potential impact of negative frames
- Author:
- SIEFF Elaine M.
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Mental Health, 12(3), June 2003, pp.259-269.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- London
Mass media (e.g., television news and entertainment programming, films and newspapers) are a primary source for information about mental illnesses. The possible effects of media coverage and predominant frames in which mental illnesses are portrayed are discussed. Framing is defined as the means by which media information is organized, presented and interpreted. The literature focused on media coverage of mental illnesses and media framing is reviewed. The frequently negative frames used by the media to portray mental illnesses contribute to the development and persistence of the public's negative attitudes toward persons with mental illnesses. An obvious extension to this work is a systematic analysis of framing functions, structures and elements used in the media to describe mental illnesses. The experimental manipulation of mental illness frames and their consequences on media consumers will help to provide some understanding of how media consumers react specifically to frames of mental illnesses.
Mental health and social justice: gender, race and psychological consequences of unfairness
- Author:
- SHEPPARD Michael
- Journal article citation:
- British Journal of Social Work, 32(6), September 2002, pp.779-797.
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
Mental health or ill health is, by some, thought to be inherent within the individual, whereas social justice, as its name indicates, resides within the realm of the social. However, where we understand social justice as, on the one hand, an issue involving equality and fairness, and on the other as having both material and symbolic dimensions it becomes clear that there is an important link. In particular groups which suffer disadvantage and discrimination may be expected to suffer higher rates of mental ill health. However, the key to understanding this is by identifying the mechanisms by which this can happen. In order to do this it is necessary that one does not look at mental health (or illness) in an undifferentiated way, since there are different processes involved for different forms of mental ill health. This article, therefore, looks at this by focusing on the issue of social justice through two significant relationships: gender and depression, and race and schizophrenia. It then examines the mechanisms which link these together, and show how they are significant psychological consequences of social injustice arising in both material and symbolic form.
Mental health care in the community: an analysis of contemporary public attitudes towards, and public representations of, mental illness
- Author:
- HANNIGAN Ben
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Mental Health, 8(5), October 1999, pp.431-440.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- London
Public tolerance of, and non-discrimination towards, people with mental health problems are key factors on which success in achieving the goal of community mental health care depends. This paper tests Thomas Scheff's sociological theory of mental illness through a critical review of recent U.K literature on the subject. The review suggests that negative representations predominate in the media, while a significant minority of the U.K public seem to possess negative attitudes towards people with mental health problems and their care and social participation in the community.