Annotated Bibliography
Corrigan, Patrick W., David Roe, and Hector W. H. Tsang. Challenging the Stigma of Mental Illness Lessons for Therapists and Advocates. Chichester, West Sussex, UK: John Wiley & Sons, 2011. Print.
Crocetti, Guido M., Herzl R. Spiro, and Iradj Siassi. Contemporary Attitudes toward Mental Illness. Pittsburgh: U of Pittsburgh, 1974. Print. Kaplan, Howard B. The Sociology of Mental Illness. New Haven: College & UP, 1972. Print. "Mind, Modernity, Madness: The Impact of Culture on Human Experience." Choice Reviews Online 51.02 (2013): 51-1188. Print. Rosen, George. Madness in Society: Chapters in the Historical Sociology of Mental Illness. London: Routledge & K. Paul, 1968. Print. Rüsch, Nicolas Brohan, Elaine Gabbidon, Jheanell Thornicroft, Graham Clement, Sarah. "Stigma And Disclosing One's Mental Illness To Family And Friends." Social Psychiatry & Psychiatric Epidemiology 49.7 (2014): 1157-1160. Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection. Web. 6 Nov. 2014. Scheff, Thomas J. Mental Illness and Social Processes. New York: Harper & Row, 1967. Print. Torrey, E. Fuller, and Judy Miller. The Invisible Plague: The Rise of Mental Illness from 1750 to the Present. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers UP, 2001. Print. |
This book, as its introduction specifies, targets the doer, the advocate, of erasing mental illness stigma. Corrigan identifies different types of stigma and outlines strategies for stopping them. The role pictured for the advocate, however, is even more specific in that the book is geared toward the therapist, who may be professionally trained but is not always the best advocate for the mentally ill individual. Corrigan also points out that viewing mental illness as an injustice rather than a phenomena--as many psychiatrists do--will aide in dispelling misconceptions surrounding it, which is ultimately the goal of my research.
This work contains a comprehensive literature review of research already conducted towards examining attitudes towards mental illness. This includes studies exploring public attitudes, employer attitudes, and trends in acceptance, Such studies have apparent inconsistencies and thus need refinement and ramification by the data about to be presented. The authors identify the previous research that has defined the key terms of stigma, attitude, and prejudice as components of the negative perception of mental illnesses. The review recognizes that society views deviants--a common term for the mentally ill--as a threat and thus responds with negative attitudes. The original data (gathered through a large collection of surveys) tests the "theory of rejection" by looking at how the public reacts to mental illness. The results of the research in this book is key to exploring how families can overcome the negative attitudes that have accumulated. Chapter 4 of this book summarizes studies that show the effect of culture upon perception of mental illness (what is and isn't considered illness, how there is little to no consensus on what defines illness, etc). It is useful in that it provides statistics for the public's--or rather a public portion's--perception of mental illness and its causes, beliefs, etc. This work hones in on two types of episodic mental illness: schizophrenia and manic-depressive disorder. Both are key to examining the roots of public fear for mental illness. These diseases that possess erratic, unpredictable symptoms often foster fear in those who are lack knowledge about them. They play key roles in creating stigma and therefore play key roles in eliminating stigma as well. This work describes the changing perception of mental illness throughout history in detail, from Ancient Palestine, Greece, and Rome to the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, to the 14th through 20th centuries. It documents the beginning of stigma and negative perception of the mentally ill and its development through history. This article introduces the important concept of obtaining family support and acceptance. The family is the closest network of support mentally ill individuals can get; erasing the initial stigma is the first step to awareness and acceptance of mental illness. This book provides several articles that are relevant to my research. David Mechanic's essay explores ways in which a person is identified as mentally ill in his/her environment and points out that there are different levels of acceptance by different people in society, an important concept to keep in my in recruiting allies of mental illness. Yarrow's contribution makes obvious that family is the primary way patients can get treatment (this analysis is conducted with respect to a marital relationship) and thus it is extremely important for family to overcome stigma and accept the mental illness of their relative. Jules Coleman's essay analyzes social factors and their effect on the psychiatric symptoms; she dictates that social groups can both stabilize and irritate symptoms and behavior, and that symptoms are largely caused by external factors of social interaction (integration or isolation produce different results). Finally, Edwin Lemert's contribution details both the viewpoint of society by the mentally ill and vice versa. All these essay relate to the research in some way relatable to society's role in mental illnesses. This work parallels mental illness with physical diseases. The writers declare that mental illness should be viewed just like epidemics as it affects the society and economy in the same way. The book calls for awareness and alarm to be raised regarding mental illness, just as this website's manifesto does. |