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Symbolic interaction: a theoretical approach to understanding stigma and recovery
- Authors:
- ROE Jim, JOSEPH Stephen, MIDDLETON Hugh
- Journal article citation:
- Mental Health Review Journal, 15(1), March 2010, pp.9-36.
- Publisher:
- Emerald
The authors of this article propose symbolic interaction as a theoretical framework with which to study aspects of social interaction between individuals who are labelled mentally ill and their social environment including their engagement with professional staff, and to support the understanding of recovery and its counterpart, stigma. The article discusses the medical model, symbolic interaction, and symbolic interaction and mental illness, reviews existing research literature concerning the use of this approach in the mental health field, and discusses the implications and ways forward for future research on mental health, stigma and recovery.
Understanding the carers' experience: examples from a Ghanaian context
- Authors:
- QUINN Neil, EVANS Tony
- Journal article citation:
- International Social Work, 53(1), January 2010, pp.62-72.
- Publisher:
- Sage
Informal carers play a key role in mental health care. This article draws on the work of Goffman to analyse the experiences of carers in Ghana. The findings illustrate the complex nature of caring and the need to develop social work practice that acknowledges the social context of carers’ reality.
Community work - a cure for stigma and social exclusion?
- Author:
- SCHNEIDER Justine
- Journal article citation:
- Psychiatric Bulletin, 33(8), August 2009, pp.281-284.
- Publisher:
- Royal College of Psychiatrists
This editorial discusses how cultivating ‘social capital’ or interdependence between individuals and groups – as well as giving, each is entitled, but not compelled, to claim something in return can combat social exclusion. It is difficult, if not impossible, to sustain stigma and social exclusion when people are meeting mutual needs, building trust and helping each other. Mental health providers can foster social capital by creating community cohesion, namely interdependent relationships between individuals and organisations. This approach has been put into practice in the USA, where providers assert that small investments in building social capital return many times the cost. In the UK there is evidence that community development can make a contribution to mental health but it does not fit well with conventional approaches to mental health services – it calls for different skills and a vision that is collective rather than individualised.
Effect of perceived stigmatisation on the quality of life among ageing female family carers: a comparison of carers of adults with intellectual disability and carers of adults with mental illness
- Authors:
- CHOU Y.C., et al
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 53(7), July 2009, pp.654-664.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
Little account has been taken of quality of life (QoL) among family carers of adults with an intellectual disability (ID) and family carers of adults with a mental illness (MI), particularly the female ageing carers' perceived stigma. This study explores whether there are differences in the significant predictors of female ageing family carers' QoL between family carers of adults with ID and family carers of adults with MI and aims to examine the effect of these differences in stigma on carer QoL between the two groups. A structural survey interview was administered to 350 female family carers supporting persons with ID and 66 female carers supporting persons with MI; the carers were aged 55 years and older, and the interviews were carried between July 2006 and April 2007 at the carers' homes in a county in Taiwan. The survey package contained standardised scales to measure the carer's stigma, social support, QoL and health as well as adult and carer socio-demographic data. The results highlight that in both groups the ageing female family carers' health and social support were strongly associated with the level of their QoL even though there was also a strong effect of carers' perceived stigma on their QoL. Contrary to previous findings, ageing female family carers of adults with MI had a higher level of QoL compared with the carers of adults with ID. Hierarchical regressions show a stronger effect of perceived stigma on the carer QoL among the family carers of adults with MI than among the carers of adults with ID. The authors conclude that this study suggests that attempts to improve these female older family carers' health and social support must include their lifelong unmet needs in terms of how to cope with the perceived stigma associated with their position.