Social Psychology: Sociological Perspectives David E. Rohall Melissa A. Milkie Jeffrey W. Lucas This multimedia product and its contents are protected under copyright law. The following are prohibited by law: ● any public performance or display, including transmission of any image of a network; ● preparation of any derivative work, including the extraction, in whole or in part, of any images; ● any rental, lease, or lending of the program

Social Psychology: Sociological Perspectives Chapter 8: Mental Health and Illness

The Sociology of Mental Health The sociology of mental health is the study of the social arrangements that affect mental illness and its consequences Psychologists typically emphasize internal processes Biologists focus on the role of physiological aspects of mental illness Sociologists do not discount biology and psychology in studying mental illness but they believe a social lens is critical to gaining the whole picture of mental illness Copyright (c) Allyn Bacon 2007

SI: The Social Construction of Mental Health Some sociologists focus on the socially constructed nature of what we call “mental illness” They emphasize historical changes that have led to a redefinition of mental illness or current-day examples of how groups work together to create new labels for mental illnesses Copyright (c) Allyn Bacon 2007

SI: Madness and Civilization Michel Foucault (1965) was a French social philosopher who studied the meaning of mental illness through history 1656 was an important date in the history of madness because that is the year that the “Hôpital General” opened in Paris In the age of reason, people who thought or acted unreasonable needed to be separated from the masses Copyright (c) Allyn Bacon 2007

SI: The Medicalization of Deviance Researchers with a constructionist perspective focus on the medicalization of deviance, ways in which mental health problems have come boundaries of medicine Historically, three forces have driven what aspects of social life become medicalized: The power and authority of the medical profession Activities of social movements and interest groups Directed organizational on professional activities Copyright (c) Allyn Bacon 2007

SI: Modern Forces of Medicalization Modern interest groups influencing the medicalization process are more economic than social in nature, including: Health maintenance organizations (HMOs) The pharmaceutical industry Consumers Copyright (c) Allyn Bacon 2007

SI: The Social Control of Deviance Thomas Szasz argued that mental illness is a myth, that it is socially constructed like any other aspect of social life Psychoanalysis is a moral rather than a medical endeavor Mental illness differs from criminal deviance in two ways: Rather than being fined or punished for deviant behavior, mental-health deviants are “treated” Mental-health deviance is more controlled by the client whereas criminal deviance is controlled by the state Copyright (c) Allyn Bacon 2007

SI: Labeling Theory and Deviance Labeling theory emphasizes the processes by which an individual comes to accept a negative characteristic as part of her identity In the case of medical deviance, this process may include accepting the labels associated with mental illnesses (e.g., an alcoholic or someone with ADHD) As applied to mental health, labeling theory emphasizes different agents of social control employed to segregate and label criminal versus ill groups Copyright (c) Allyn Bacon 2007

SSP: The Social Causes of Stress Those using the social structure and personality approach have identified a number of patterns related to stress The stress process model attempts to help us understand the social connections among stressful events and strains, the resources people bring to deal with problems, and the outcomes they experience Copyright (c) Allyn Bacon 2007

SSP: Stressors and Outcomes Stressors can come in at least two forms: Negative life events Chronic strains Negative life events and chronic strains produce poor mental health Typical outcomes include emotional disorders like depression and behavioral disorders like alcohol or drug abuse Copyright (c) Allyn Bacon 2007

SSP: Mediating and Moderating Conditions People have different resources with which to manage stressful events: Personal resources Social support or social resources Personal and social resources can act as moderators or mediators in the stress process Copyright (c) Allyn Bacon 2007

SSP: Gender and Social Support Social support and other resources are not distributed evenly across the population Research shows that men have larger, less close networks of relationships than women; women have closer relationships with fewer people These differences may reflect structural differences in men’s and women’s lives Copyright (c) Allyn Bacon 2007

SSP: The Epidemiology of Mental Health The last component of the stress-process model involves individuals’ socioeconomic characteristics The epidemiology of mental health emphasizes the distribution of mental health conditions in society Different socioeconomic characteristics are associated with different levels of mental health problems Copyright (c) Allyn Bacon 2007

SSP: Race, Class, and Mental Health The prevalence of mental health disorders is inversely related to economic status Some research shows that African Americans are more prone to mental illness than European Americans and Latino Americans These differences may be due to stresses associated with racism in society The differences may also be due to the higher concentration of Blacks in poverty Copyright (c) Allyn Bacon 2007

SSP: Gender, Family, and Well-Being Married people are generally happier, healthier, and financially better off than single, divorced, and widowed people The positive effects of marriage on health and well-being may reflect access to social support or the committed nature of marital relationships Women report higher levels of depression and other emotional disorders than men Men are more likely to exhibit behavioral disorders such as alcoholism Copyright (c) Allyn Bacon 2007

SSP: Community and Neighborhood Contexts Communities and neighborhoods represent environmental and/or social conditions that affect most or all their residents There is some evidence that there is a malaise or psychological state of unhappiness associated with particularly rural or urban areas reflecting lack of stimulation or poor living conditions Copyright (c) Allyn Bacon 2007

SSP: Urban Malaise and Ambient Hazards Poor economic conditions produce poor mental health through exposure to ambient hazards, exposure to crime, poor living conditions, and lack of services Ambient hazards associated with urban life reflect both negative life events and chronic strains Copyright (c) Allyn Bacon 2007

GP: Mental Health as a Status Characteristic According to the group processes perspective, people set up different expectations of individuals’ performance depending on their status characteristics Mental health can represent a status that influences group interactions Copyright (c) Allyn Bacon 2007

GP: Mental Illness as a Diffuse Status Wagner (1993) argued that mental illness can act as a diffuse status characteristic under three conditions: The illness must be considered something that is unwanted or less desirable than other states Mental illness must also be associated with other characteristics that are tied to the illness There must be general expectations associated with a person’s ability to perform in a group Under these conditions, mentally illness can have a negative impact on interactions Copyright (c) Allyn Bacon 2007

GP: Mental Health and Stigma People labeled with mental illness can react by using techniques such as passing and covering Passing and covering are ways in which individuals manage their self-concepts in public venues From this perspective, many mental illnesses can be covered quite well Copyright (c) Allyn Bacon 2007

GP: The Career of the Mental Patient Ervin Goffman (1961) studied the ways that mentally-ill patients managed stigma in asylums He described mental institutions as total institutions, places where individuals are required to isolate themselves from the rest of society The goal of the asylum is to force the patient to adjust her senses of self Copyright (c) Allyn Bacon 2007

GP: Coping with Confinement Goffman showed that patients coped with confinement in many different ways: Conversion Intransigence Withdrawal Colonization Copyright (c) Allyn Bacon 2007

Chapter 8: Bringing It All Together Mental health can be treated as a form of deviance from the norms of society Symbolic interactionists examine how mental illness has changed meaning in society over time Social structure and personality scholars focus on the societal sources of stress and access to resources to cope with stresses Group processes scholars emphasize the way that mental health can serve as a status characteristic Copyright (c) Allyn Bacon 2007