Written by participants and first-rate social scientists in the Chicago Consortium for Stigma Research, On the Stigma of Mental Illness: Implications for Research and Social Change explores the causes and ramifications of mental illness stigma and possible means to eliminate it. The book translates basic behavioral research, especially from social psychology, to an issue of prime importance to clinical psychology.
Serious mental illness is a double-edged sword: It not only challenges those affected with the disability itself, but can also expose those affected to an unjust social stigma. Such a stigma can then deny these individuals opportunities to work, live independently, and pursue other goals.
At the core of many problems facing people with mental illness is public reaction to their disabilities (e.g., landlords may not rent to and employers may not hire someone with a serious mental illness). The authors explore the causes of such stigmatizing attitudes, including media images and a culture that does not respect persons with mental illness. Living within such a culture often leads to self-stigmatization as well. While laws such as the Americans with Disabilities Act have decreased the impact of discrimination, contact between those with mental illness and those without may be one of the most effective ways to diminish stigma.
This book includes practical strategies for dealing with public stigma and self-stigma, including deciding when and how to disclose one's psychiatric history to others.
Contributors
Foreword
Acknowledgments
Introduction
I. Overview of the Problem
- The Impact of Mental Illness Stigma
—Patrick W. Corrigan and Petra Kleinlein - Methods for Studying Stigma and Mental Illness
—Kenneth A. Rasinki, Peter Viechnicki, and Colm O'Muircheartaigh
II. Understanding Mental Illness Stigma
- First-Person Accounts of Stigma
—Beth Angell, Andrea Cooke, and Kelly Kovac - Social Psychological Models of Mental Illness Stigma
—Victor Ottati, Galen V. Bodenhausen, and Leonard S. Newman - Sociological Models of Mental Illness Stigma: Progress and Prospects
—Fred E. Markowitz - A Social–Cognitive Model of Personal Responses to Stigma
—Amy C. Watson and L. Phillip River - Mental Illness and Dangerousness: Fact or Misperception, and Implications for Stigma
—Patrick W. Corrigan and Amy E. Cooper - Senseless Crimes: Sin or Sickness? Implications for Mental Illness Stigma
—Patrick W. Corrigan and Amy C. Watson - Stigma and the Police
—Amy C. Watson, Victor Ottati, Arthur Lurigio, and Mark Heyrman - Stigma and Substance Use Disorders
—Kenneth A. Rasinski, Pamela Woll, and Andrea Cooke
III. Changing Mental Illness Stigma
- Strategies for Assessing and Diminishing Self-Stigma
—Patrick W. Corrigan and Joseph D. Calabrese - Dealing With Stigma Through Personal Disclosure
—Patrick W. Corrigan - Challenging Public Stigma: A Targeted Approach
—Amy C. Watson and Patrick W. Corrigan - Changing Stigma Through the Media
—Margaret Sullivan, Thomas Hamilton, and Herbert Allen
IV. Conclusion
- Mental Illness Stigma as Social Injustice: Yet Another Dream to Be Achieved
—Patrick W. Corrigan
Author Index
Subject Index
About the Editor
A Choice Outstanding Academic Title!
This book is truly a gem and a beacon of light for those working to eliminate the stigma of mental illness. It is truly worth of being considered one of the finest books in the field and equally deserving of a place on every clinician's shelf.
—Doody Enterprises, Inc.
A powerful volume…should be required reading for all students planning to pursue clinical or counseling work with individuals suffering from mental illnesses. Essential.
—CHOICE Magazine
Read a review of this title from the PsycCRITIQUES® database (PDF, 49KB)
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