The Social Marginalization of People Living with a Mentally Ill Label–Family, Friends, and Work

Abstracts

EN

This paper is based on qualitative research among people diagnosed with a mental illness who voluntarily attend a mental health center. Such individuals are given a degrading “mentally ill” label, which transforms them into a “new” person. This study showed that-due to their label-research participants are often socially marginalized-not only in the public but also in the private sphere. As members of an “organized deviant group” (the mental health center), they follow a “deviant career” and find a job outside the regular job market. Their marginalization is not only caused by their health problems (by their impairment), but they are also disabled through social reactions to these problems. Psychiatry based on the biological model of the disease cannot, therefore, help them without the cooperation of social science approaches dealing with social marginalization.

Keywords

EN

mental illness; labeling; impairment; disability; organized deviant group; deviant career; family; friends; employment; marginalization; psychiatry

• Publisher: Uniwersytet Łódzki. Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego
• Journal: Qualitative Sociology Review
• Year: 2021
• Volume: 17
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 76-89

Dates

published

2021-07-31

Contributors

other

Kateřina Maloušková

• Palacký University Olomouc, Czech Republic

• https://orcid.org/0000000194518721

other

Martin Fafejta

• Palacký University Olomouc, Czech Republic

• https://orcid.org/0000000334307556

Identifiers

DOI

10.18778/1733-8077.17.3.04