...William Ashton, Ph.D. York College, CUNY A student began a short literature review on the stigma of the mentally ill and perceptions of dangerousness. Working through PsychArticles she found three likely articles. When she read each, she wrote a paragraph description of each: Alexander, L.A., & Link, B.G. (2003). The impact of contact on stigmatizing attitudes towards people with mental illness. Journal of Mental Health, 12, 271-289. Alexander and Link (2003) examined the stigma of mental illness, perceptions of dangerousness and social distance in a telephone survey. They found that, as a participant’s own life contact with mentally ill individuals increased, participants were both less likely to perceive a target mentally ill individual in a vignette as physically dangerous and less likely to desire social distance from the target. This relationship remained after controlling for demographic and confound variables, such as gender, ethnicity, education, income and political conservatism. They also found that any type of contact – with a friend, a spouse, a family member, a work contact, or a contact in a public place – with mentally ill individuals reduced perceptions of dangerousness of the target in the vignette. Corrigan, P. W., Rowan, D., Green, A., Lundin, R., River, P., Uphoff-Wasowski, K., White, K., & Kubiak, M.A. (2002). Challenging two mental illness stigmas: Personality responsibility and dangerousness. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 28, 293-309. Corrigan...
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...Social Stigmas Mental Illness Mental Illness:- • Introduction :- Mental disease and its stigma is observed in most of the culture. People of different age, gender or socio-economic status may suffer from mental illness. At least twenty percent of people pass through mental disorders in some way or the other during their lifetime. Stigma towards mentally ill people is very risky. This affects on their ability to perform duties, their revival, treatment procedure and support they receive, and their recognition in the group of people. Stigma is considered as a sign of shame, dishonour or disapproval, of being rejected by others. Stigma is painful and humiliating. Since Civilization, persons suffering from mental barrier of their disability accompanied social stigma and negative social mind-sets. A determined negative outlook and social rejection of people with disabilities is evident all through history and across the culture. Society viewed mentally ill people as either morally wrong or they were being punished by God, or as being possessed by demonic spirits requiring some religious interventions. Research indicates that the extent of social rejection and social stigma differs with precise disabilities, creating a well-defined hierarchical order. Stigmatization possibly has a remarkable comportment on the distribution of life chances in mental illness. • Society :- Generally people have feeling that person gripped under mental illness...
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...THE PUBLIC'S PERCEPTION OF MENTALLY ILL OFFENDERS Name Institution Subject Date Attestation I appreciate the nature of plagiarism, and I am mindful of the University’s course of action on this. I, therefore, attest that this dissertation reports unique work by me throughout my University project. Signature (you must delete this, then sign and date this page) Date Acknowledgements I would like to pass my sincerest gratitude to my parents who shaped me to the person I am today. Moreover, I would like to acknowledge my supervisor and other academic staff that provided unconditional guidance and support. I would, furthermore, like to recognize my fellow students and colleagues who helped me in the facilitation of this project in various ways. In addition, I would also like to acknowledge the general public for allowing me to conduct my interviews. Last but not least, I would like to acknowledge my friends for providing their time, cooperation and tolerance before and after the study. Abstract The mentally ill offenders have arguably been viewed on an exclusionary spectrum continuum. The public has adopted punitive attitudes that have significantly hampered with restorative measures. The aim of this study is to examine the perception of the public regarding the mentally ill offenders. The sample investigated comprised of 3 most dominant ethnic groups. Out of 200 respondents there was an average of 30 participants for...
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...Stigma: the Media’s Gift to the Mentally Ill A young boy lives in an environment in which his parents have a daily routine of constant bickering and fighting. His family’s therapist gifts him a tape recorder in which one night he is to record one of his parents’ disputes so he can find a new home. On that night, he witnesses his father shooting himself after violently murdering his mom with burning rage. Years later, the little boy, now a man in his 40s, kidnaps women and reenacts the night his parents died, resulting in women’s deaths and later, his. This episode of Criminal Minds is one of many that depicts those with mental illnesses as insane. With the media being one of the most influential forces in society, it feeds people stigmas that...
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...FAMILY PAMPHLET TO MINIMIZE STIGMA FOR PERSONS LIVING WITH A SEVERE MENTAL ILLNESS A project presented to The Faculty and Staff of Saybrook University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (M.A.) in Psychology by R. Paul Johnson San Francisco, CA December 2013 Approval of the Project FAMILY PAMHLET TO MINIMIZ STIGMA FOR PERSONS LIVING WITH A SEVERE MENTAL ILLNESS This project by R. Paul Johnson has been approved by the committee member below, who recommended it be accepted by the faculty of Saybrook University in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree of Masters of Arts in Psychology Project Committee: Theopia Jackson, Ph.D. Date Abstract FAMILY PAMPHLET TO MINIMZE STIGMA FOR PERSONS LIVING WITH A SEVERE MENTAL ILLNESS R. Paul Johnson Saybrook University Individuals with mental illness have long experienced societal prejudice and discrimination, including among healthcare professionals. However, the stigma that comes from family and friends may have greater adverse impact. This project-reviewed literature on the stigmas associated with a diagnosis of a serious mental illness (SMI), as experienced by the person and family, as factors that may contribute to family/friends inadvertently perpetuating stigmas. Therefore this project integrates literature review findings and the author’s personal/professional experiences in the design of a pamphlet intended to be utilized by...
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...cognitively disabled or "mentally retarded". Carabello's doctor advised his mother to place him at Willowbrook. Willowbrook State School was a school for cognitively disabled in name only. It was described to be worse than a prison, a residence for human experimentation. Until the age of 18, Carabello was neglected, abused and treated worse than an animal. Carabello recalls the abuse, "I got beaten with sticks, belt buckles. I got my head kicked into the wall by staff … most of the kids sat in the day room naked, with no clothes on. There was a lot of sexual abuse going on from staff to residents". Also, many...
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...statistic, however, is the younger population of which almost 23% or 17.1 million suffer from a mental illness (Speak Up For, 2015). Of these populations, the most common mental illnesses are anxiety and mood disorders such as depression or bipolar. Mental Illness have developed a negative stigma over the years due to “bias, distrust, stereotyping, fear, embarrassment, anger, and/or avoidance” (Sundararaman, 2009, p. 2). This stigma around mental illness makes it quite hard for people with these illnesses to come forward and seek treatment because of the shame imposed upon them by societies views of their illness. Mental Health Care...
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...Lauren Rohe PSYCH1810 Roche October 22, 2010 Author: Ruscio, John Article: “Diagnosis and Behaviors They Denote” Stigmatization is a big issue then psychology profession faces every day. The theory of labeling can cause an effect on the individual and the society together. The author of this article, John Ruscio is a psychologist who examined a few cases to show how labeling is a challenge for others. Do the mentally ill suffer from social rejection from stigmatization? These case studies give a few examples on the few from both perspectives. He makes good points from his examples, and then in the end shows his perceptions and his advice on how to change this social problem. Pseudo patients and Pseudoscience There were eight mentally stable patients that pretended to act insane and fake their symptoms to be checked into a mental hospital. After diagnosed with schizophrenia, the patients stopped faking their symptoms. When the hospital staff could see the patients “sanity”, they were discharged after a 19 day stay from the mental hospital. The observations from inside of the hospital showed that the labels from the psychologist will remain with the patient for the rest of their life. The “insane are not always insane”, and occasional behavior, will still receive a label of illness in mental hospitals. Patients, Job Applications, and Psychological Disturbance A group of psychologists were asked to watch a muted video tape of an interview occurring. One group was...
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...Abnormal Psychology LAQs 1. Discuss validity and reliability of diagnosis. Paragraph 1 (Introduction): ● Classification system is said to be reliable when it is possible for 4 different clinicians, using the same system, to arrive at same diagnosis for same individual ● Examples: DSM-4, CCMD, ICD-10 ● Though diagnosis systems use more standardized assessment techniques and more specific diagnostic criteria than in the past, classification system is far from perfect ● Classification system said to be valid when it is able to classify a real pattern of symptoms, which can lead to an effective treatment ● However, problem with this is that the classification system is descriptive and doesn’t identify any specific causes for disorders Paragraph 2 (Study 1): Sane or Insane-Rosenhan (1973) Aim: test reliability of psychiatric diagnosis Procedure: field experiment Part 1 ● 8 healthy people (5 men, 3 women) gained admission to 12 different psychiatric hospitals ● Complained of hearing unclear, unfamiliar voices of same sex repeating words “thud” and “empty” ● Participants said they felt fine after admission to hospital (no more symptoms) Part 2 ● Rosenhan told staff at psychiatric hospital that pseudopatients will try to get admitted ● No pseudopatients were actually sent Results: Part 1 ● 7 diagnosed with schizophrenia ● Took average 19 days for discharge and were classified as “schizophrenia in...
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...The Stigma of Mental Illness and its Effects It appears that negative views of mental illness are common with in the public. According to Overton & Medina people suffering from mental illness are often portrayed as weird, defensive, and sometimes hard to talk to. According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary (1990), mental illness is defined as, “mentally distorted, mad, or crazy” (Russel, 1990). Generally, concepts about mental illness tend to be subjective, leading to difficulties in defining mental illness. Johnstone (2001) gives a broader definition of mental illness, believing that mental illness relates to the individuals spectrum of cognitions, emotions, and behaviors that damper relationships required for work, home, and in the learning facilities (Johnstone, 2001). This definition is also referenced in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed; DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Association, 1994), which categorizes the symptoms that are used to diagnose mental illness (American Psychiatric Association, 1994). Stigmatizing individuals with mental illness are causing these individuals to suffer loss of employment, housing, and stereotyping, and prejudice. There have been many different thoughts this is not research on the topic of stigma due to mental illness. This study discusses the true definitions of stigma, causes, effects, impact of the programs all ready in place, and what can be done to change the perception of the general public . Individuals...
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...Throughout history, the mentally ill have struggled to find morality within the world of psychiatry. During the 1960’s the increase in inhumane treatment for mentally ill patients and the growing number of patients forced into those treatments had individuals from all over the world making the decision to voice their opinions on this substantially growing issue. While the anti-psychiatry movement of the 60s can be known as a dark time in history, the influencers born from this movement created necessary change for patient care and their basic human rights. Anti-psychiatry first emerged in the 1960s and it is believed that this movement gained exceptional support due to people’s displeasure towards psychiatry, especially involving the unsubstantiated,...
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...help determine whether or not a person may be mentally ill, psychologists use a verity of criteria, including the bizarreness and persistence of the behavior, social deviance, subjective distress, psychological handicap and the effect on functioning. These symptoms and characteristics of mental illnesses all involve subjective judgements on the part of psychologists and psychiatrists. David Rosenhan wondered if mental health professionals were truly able to distinguish between the mentally healthy and the mentally...
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...definition and description of epidemiology in regards to HIV/AIDS, with the steps and method that was used. The Epidemiological Triangle will be define and identified, and the different types of epidemiology. The population chosen characteristics such as the influenced population’s vulnerability. This essay will also examine the values and potential cultural biases with cultural considerations that may impact health issues. There are legal and ethical consideration when working with the mentally ill. Describing the relationship of the disease to varies levels of prevention. Relevant population and the disease of this population The mentally ill the population and the disease is AIDS/HIV. Mental disorders are indiscriminate. They occur across the span and affect persons of all races, cultures genders and educational and socioeconomic group. One of the leading cause of disability is mental illness. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and AIDS have had an enormous political and social impact on society. Nearly 75% of new HIV infections occur in persons between 30-49 years may result in disrupted families and lost careers and economic productivity. (Stanhope, 2012, p317) HIV is transmitted through exposure to blood, semen, transplanted organs, vaginal secretions and breast milk (Heymann, 2008). (Stanhope and Lancaster, 2012 p.785) According to World Health Organization, “Mental health and HIV are closely interlinked: mental health problems, including substance use disorders...
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...Scheff, Szasz and Goffman argue that mental illness is a social construction. Discuss how this approach differs from the biomedical approach to mental illness. Mental illness has been well-defined severally by some sociologists, professionals in the medical field, politicians and other good academia. Mental illness can be define as ‘a state of one’s mind that affects the thinking, emotions and judgement to the extent that the individual need a medical attention for his/her personal safety and that of the society’. The definition of mental illness by other academia has been termed as behavioural and emotional disorder. They perceive this disorder as disease that affects the mind. In a particular society, mental illness is a behaviour which is classified as disturbed or abnormal and people found of that behaviour are branded deviant. Acceptable behaviour in one society can be unacceptable behaviour in other society. From the biomedical approach point of view, mental illness deals with the state of mind and is the duty of the trained professionals to diagnose patients and by the use drugs and surgery treat them in medical way in order to improve the patient mental disorder, living condition and poor self-care. This model places more emphasis on the causes of mental illness as biological so it was criticized thereby making the social condition play a significant role. ‘’There is the need to recognize both the outer and inner worlds of a person as well as the society’’ (Duggan...
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