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The Relationship of Causal Beliefs and Contact With Users of Mental Health Services To Attitudes To the 'Mentally Ill'

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  • John Read

    (Psychology Department, The University of Auckland)

  • Alan Law

    (Psychology Department, The University of Auckland)

Abstract

Programmes to destigmatise 'mental illness' have traditionally been based on the 'mental illness is an illness like any other' metaphor and have been largely unsuccessful. By measuring attitudes towards, and etiology beliefs about, 'mental illness' before and after a series of four undergraduate lectures presenting the psychosocial causes of, and solutions to, severe mental health problems, this study (a) replicated previous studies demonstrating a relationship between biogenetic causal beliefs and negative attitudes towards 'mental patients'; (b) found that following the lectures attitudes improved, particularly around the key variables of dangerousness and unpredictability; and (c) demonstrated that amount of contact with people who had received psychiatric treatment was an even stronger predictor of positive attitudes than acceptance of a psychosocial perspective.

Suggested Citation

  • John Read & Alan Law, 1999. "The Relationship of Causal Beliefs and Contact With Users of Mental Health Services To Attitudes To the 'Mentally Ill'," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 45(3), pages 216-229, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:socpsy:v:45:y:1999:i:3:p:216-229
    DOI: 10.1177/002076409904500309
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Green, Dianne E. & McCormick, Iain A. & Walkey, Frank H. & Taylor, Antony J. W., 1987. "Community attitudes to mental illness in New Zealand twenty-two years on," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 24(5), pages 417-422, January.
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    Cited by:

    1. Sandra Dietrich & Herbert Matschinger & Matthias C. Angermeyer, 2006. "The Relationship between Biogenetic Causal Explanations and Social Distance toward People with Mental Disorders: Results from a Population Survey in Germany," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 52(2), pages 166-174, March.
    2. Ross M.G. Norman & Deborah Windell & Rahul Manchanda, 2012. "Examining differences in the stigma of depression and schizophrenia," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 58(1), pages 69-78, January.
    3. Samir Al-Adawi & Atsu S.S. Dorvlo & Suad S. Al-Ismaily & Dalal A. Al-Ghafry & Balquis Z. Al-Noobi & Ahmed Al-Salmi & David T. Burke & Mrugeshkumar K. Shah & Harith Ghassany & Suma P. Chand, 2002. "Perception of and Attitude towards Mental Illness in Oman," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 48(4), pages 305-317, December.
    4. Christoph Lauber & Carlos Nordt & Luis Falcato & Wulf Rössler, 2002. "Determinants of Attitude to Volunteering in Psychiatry: Results of a Public Opinion Survey in Switzerland," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 48(3), pages 209-219, September.
    5. Melissa Pyle & Alison Brabban & Laura Drage & Helen Spencer & Douglas Turkington & Anthony Morrison, 2015. "Associations between internalised stereotypes of psychosis and emotional dysfunction in people with psychosis not taking antipsychotic medication," Psychosis, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 7(3), pages 217-227, July.
    6. Henry Stephens Aghanwa, 2004. "Attitude Toward and Knowledge about Mental Illness in Fiji Islands," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 50(4), pages 361-375, December.

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