IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v352y2024ics0277953624004623.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Psychotic white men and bipolar black women? Racialized and gendered implications of mental health terminology

Author

Listed:
  • Johnson, Amy L.

Abstract

This study investigates the intersection of race, gender, and criminality in the language surrounding mental health and illness. Applying computational methods of word embeddings to full text data from major American newspapers between 2000 and 2023, I show that the landscape of mental health is broadly racialized as black, challenging the notion of mental illness as a predominantly white phenomenon. Cultural ideas about mental illness are gendered such that women are medicalized and men are criminalized, yet certain terms blur the boundary between illness and criminality. I highlight how stereotypes embedded in mental health language perpetuate stigma around men's mental health and justify social control with notable implications for black men. I conclude with recommendations for the mental health movement by advocating for more inclusive discussions around men's mental health and revised person-centric language.

Suggested Citation

  • Johnson, Amy L., 2024. "Psychotic white men and bipolar black women? Racialized and gendered implications of mental health terminology," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 352(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:352:y:2024:i:c:s0277953624004623
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.117015
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953624004623
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.117015?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. repec:nas:journl:v:115:y:2018:p:e3635-e3644 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Alina Arseniev-Koehler & Jacob G. Foster, 2022. "Machine Learning as a Model for Cultural Learning: Teaching an Algorithm What it Means to be Fat," Sociological Methods & Research, , vol. 51(4), pages 1484-1539, November.
    3. McGinty, E.E. & Webster, D.W. & Jarlenski, M. & Barry, C.L., 2014. "News media framing of serious mental illness and gun violence in the United States, 1997-2012," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 104(3), pages 406-413.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Atiqur sm-Rahman & Chih Hung Lo & Yasmin Jahan, 2021. "Dementia in Media Coverage: A Comparative Analysis of Two Online Newspapers across Time," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(19), pages 1-19, October.
    2. Taylor, Marshall A. & Stoltz, Dustin S., 2024. "A Workflow for Analyzing Cultural Schemas in Texts," SocArXiv zvwn2, Center for Open Science.
    3. Miguel Angel Alvarez-Mon & Cesar I. Fernandez-Lazaro & Maria Llavero-Valero & Melchor Alvarez-Mon & Samia Mora & Miguel A. Martínez-González & Maira Bes-Rastrollo, 2022. "Mediterranean Diet Social Network Impact along 11 Years in the Major US Media Outlets: Thematic and Quantitative Analysis Using Twitter," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(2), pages 1-16, January.
    4. Pop, Ioana Andreea & Gielens, Erwin & Kottmann, Hannah & Achterberg, Peter, 2024. "Exploring the discourses around microdosing psychedelics within the r/microdosing online community," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 347(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:352:y:2024:i:c:s0277953624004623. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.