Research Proposal
The overarching question of my research is this: What allies do the mentally ill--specifically those affected by episodic illness--have to help them advocate for their rights and how can they go about doing this? This concept is, evidently, extremely broad. To narrow and refine it, I will draw some ideas from Passionate Politics by Jeff Goodwin, James M. Jasper, and Francesca Polletta. We will start with another general question, answering it in a way that is relevant to what this research is trying to achieve: What is mental illness?
Mental illness is an ailment of the mind that is no different from any other physical illness; individuals suffering from mental illness should be treated with the same respect and sensibility as a patient with diabetes or cancer. Instead, they feel pressured to hide their conditions, leading to underlying stress in their lives. Their feelings of shame over their sicknesses parallel with the hesitance the emerging lesbian and gay communities of the late 1980s, who maintained a facade of ambivalence about the negative opinions of homosexuality. Deborah Gould refers to it in her contribution to Passionate Politics, "Ambivalence and the Emergence of Militant AIDS Activism." Many of the words used to describe lesbian and gay individuals ("abnormal, deviant...'other'") are also attributed to the mentally ill (Gould 137). Just as people had avoided confirming the existing of non-hetero sexuality in their society back then, they now tend to shy away from discussing the issues of schizophrenics, bipolar disorder sufferers, and those with personality disorders . The lesbian and gay community responded to this careful ignorance with ambivalence that resulted from quiet shame and a desire to assimilate. Such acceptance, Gould writes, caused the AIDS epidemic to grow in its early years because the most effected community were too used to the public ignorance to call for action. To change this, a militant form of activism became necessary as to break through the wall of heteronormativity. The same can happen for the mentally ill in a parallel manner; the longer misconceptions of them are left to fester, the less receptive the public will be when it comes time to dispel them.
We as Americans have petitioned the rights of many groups, including the lesbian and gay communities, but are once again ostracizing a minority. Not only that, we are using fear and blame as weapons against people who are essentially helpless to change what is criticized about them. Constantly surrounded by suspicion, the mentally ill are unable to plead their case and still sound reasonable. Often, they are not physically capable of doing so. There is, however, one group of people that can provide support for mentally ill individuals. As they have observed the struggles of the mentally ill first hand and understand best how misconceptions arise, the families of the mentally ill must step up and advocate for their rights. As family members, they can build a support network for individuals and help champion for their fair and humane treatment at the same time. While they can function as individual units, families can also come together to form larger groups and create collective feelings of "group solidarity" and "emotional energy," as Randall Collins emphasizes in "Social Movements and the Focus of Emotional Attention." He explicates that "collective consciousness" is key to the development of a social movement, "Each participant becomes aware of each other's awareness, and thus of each one's unity at this moment with each other" (Collins 28). Chronologically, Collins actually reinforces this importance of group mentality, as it is also mentioned in the introduction, "Collective emotions, the reciprocal ones especially, are linked to the pleasures of protest" (Goodwin 20). The "pleasures of protest," or the commonalities linking the families that come together, are unclear as this is still a theoretical social movement. Further research is required to determine how individual families are advocating for the rights of the mentally ill and how they can come together to become a more powerful force of change.
The goal of my research is to raise awareness and encourage those in a position to help. To do this, I will gather data in two parts. First, I will collect evidence for the importance and relevance of fighting for rights of the mentally ill. A short online survey will be sent out to a large and diverse sample of people asking (1) if they know someone who has a mental illness, (2) if they are close to someone who has a mental illness, (3) if they are related to someone who has a mental illness, and (4) if the mentioned individual has a form a episodic mental illness. This survey will produce specific numbers for connections that undoubtedly exist.
Second, I will conduct interviews with families of the mentally ill individuals. The aim of this portion of the research is to assimilate a collection of specific opinions and ideas. The interviews will reveal how the lives of family members are altered by their mentally ill relative(s), how they view mentally ill individuals, how they think they can help advocate for their relatives' rights, what they are doing to advocate for such rights, etc. The publication of these interviews (with necessary anonymity), will hopefully encourage other families to step forward and band together to fight for the rights of the mentally ill.
Mental illness is an ailment of the mind that is no different from any other physical illness; individuals suffering from mental illness should be treated with the same respect and sensibility as a patient with diabetes or cancer. Instead, they feel pressured to hide their conditions, leading to underlying stress in their lives. Their feelings of shame over their sicknesses parallel with the hesitance the emerging lesbian and gay communities of the late 1980s, who maintained a facade of ambivalence about the negative opinions of homosexuality. Deborah Gould refers to it in her contribution to Passionate Politics, "Ambivalence and the Emergence of Militant AIDS Activism." Many of the words used to describe lesbian and gay individuals ("abnormal, deviant...'other'") are also attributed to the mentally ill (Gould 137). Just as people had avoided confirming the existing of non-hetero sexuality in their society back then, they now tend to shy away from discussing the issues of schizophrenics, bipolar disorder sufferers, and those with personality disorders . The lesbian and gay community responded to this careful ignorance with ambivalence that resulted from quiet shame and a desire to assimilate. Such acceptance, Gould writes, caused the AIDS epidemic to grow in its early years because the most effected community were too used to the public ignorance to call for action. To change this, a militant form of activism became necessary as to break through the wall of heteronormativity. The same can happen for the mentally ill in a parallel manner; the longer misconceptions of them are left to fester, the less receptive the public will be when it comes time to dispel them.
We as Americans have petitioned the rights of many groups, including the lesbian and gay communities, but are once again ostracizing a minority. Not only that, we are using fear and blame as weapons against people who are essentially helpless to change what is criticized about them. Constantly surrounded by suspicion, the mentally ill are unable to plead their case and still sound reasonable. Often, they are not physically capable of doing so. There is, however, one group of people that can provide support for mentally ill individuals. As they have observed the struggles of the mentally ill first hand and understand best how misconceptions arise, the families of the mentally ill must step up and advocate for their rights. As family members, they can build a support network for individuals and help champion for their fair and humane treatment at the same time. While they can function as individual units, families can also come together to form larger groups and create collective feelings of "group solidarity" and "emotional energy," as Randall Collins emphasizes in "Social Movements and the Focus of Emotional Attention." He explicates that "collective consciousness" is key to the development of a social movement, "Each participant becomes aware of each other's awareness, and thus of each one's unity at this moment with each other" (Collins 28). Chronologically, Collins actually reinforces this importance of group mentality, as it is also mentioned in the introduction, "Collective emotions, the reciprocal ones especially, are linked to the pleasures of protest" (Goodwin 20). The "pleasures of protest," or the commonalities linking the families that come together, are unclear as this is still a theoretical social movement. Further research is required to determine how individual families are advocating for the rights of the mentally ill and how they can come together to become a more powerful force of change.
The goal of my research is to raise awareness and encourage those in a position to help. To do this, I will gather data in two parts. First, I will collect evidence for the importance and relevance of fighting for rights of the mentally ill. A short online survey will be sent out to a large and diverse sample of people asking (1) if they know someone who has a mental illness, (2) if they are close to someone who has a mental illness, (3) if they are related to someone who has a mental illness, and (4) if the mentioned individual has a form a episodic mental illness. This survey will produce specific numbers for connections that undoubtedly exist.
Second, I will conduct interviews with families of the mentally ill individuals. The aim of this portion of the research is to assimilate a collection of specific opinions and ideas. The interviews will reveal how the lives of family members are altered by their mentally ill relative(s), how they view mentally ill individuals, how they think they can help advocate for their relatives' rights, what they are doing to advocate for such rights, etc. The publication of these interviews (with necessary anonymity), will hopefully encourage other families to step forward and band together to fight for the rights of the mentally ill.