Stigma and the Mass Media

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Stigmaand theMass Media

• Otto Wahl, Ph.D.
• University of Hartford

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STIGMA

• STIGMA
• A mark or label
• Imposed on an individual
• or group
• That leads to devaluation and discrimination

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Public Attitudes

• Early studies (1950-1970)
• Beliefs about mental illnesses (adjectives
  associated with mental illness)
• Dirty, dangerous, unpredictable, and worthless
• Social Distance
• High acceptance for average person described in a
  vignette
• Addition of mental illness lowers willingness
• To work on a job with
• To have as a neighbor
• To allow daughter to marry
• NOTE It is the mental illness label, not the
  persons behavior, that generates social distance

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Public Attitudes

• 1996 General Social Survey
• 14 believe that schizophrenia is caused by bad
  character
• 48.6 unwilling to work closely on a job with a
  person with depression
• of people associating mental illness with
  anti-social behavior has doubled since 1956

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Behavior toward people with mental illnesses.

• Fear and rejection (isolation)
• Disrespect
• Devaluation
• Discrimination

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Most people with mental illnesses are ordinary
citizens working to achieve education, job,
family, and personal goals.
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Most people with mental illnesses are neither
violent nor criminal.
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People with mental illnesses are our relatives,
our co-workers, our neighbors, and our friends,
as well as ourselves.
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Why do inaccurate negative conceptions persist?

• Mass media depictions of mental illness
  perpetuate misconceptions by repeated
  presentation of negative stereotypes!

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Depiction as Dangerous
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Depiction as Different, even in appearance
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• Mass media provide models of disrespect toward
  and ridicule of people living with mental
  illnesses.

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Jokes and ridicule
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Slang references to mental illness
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Use of psychiatric terms to disparage others and
their ideas
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IMPACT OF STIGMA

• Reluctance to seek treatment
• Rejection and Isolation
• Anxiety (about disclosure)
• Discrimination and reduced opportunities
• Demoralization and Discouragement
• ll
• IMPAIRED RECOVERY

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How do journalists contribute to stigma?

• And how can they do a better job?

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Avoid selective focus on pathology
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Avoid selective focus on violence and crime
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Put violence in perspective

• The vast majority of people with mental illnesses
  are neither violent nor criminal
• The vast majority of serious crimes are committed
  by people who have no mental illnesses.
• Mental illness is a poor predictor of violence
  (better predictors are substance abuse, youth,
  male gender, and living in a violent neighborhood)

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Avoid the fundamental attribution error

• There is a psychological bias in Western cultures
  toward attributing actions to internal causes and
  ignoring possible external causes.
• Mental illness is not an explanation.

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Avoid language that equates people with their
illnesses

• Use People First Language
• A person with schizophrenia
• Individuals diagnosed with bipolar disorder
• People living with OCD

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Provide opportunities for comment by people
living with mental illnesses
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• Whenever you write a story about people with
  mental illnesses, remember that they are more
  than their illnesses
• and

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Treat them with the respect and dignity they
deserve.

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