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“As soon as people hear that word…”: associative stigma among clinicians working with people with serious mental illness

Beth A. Vayshenker (Department of Psychology, John Jay College and CUNY Graduate Center, New York, New York, USA)
Joseph DeLuca (Department of Psychology, John Jay College and CUNY Graduate Center, New York, New York, USA)
Timothy Bustle (Department of Psychology, John Jay College, New York, New York, USA)
Philip Yanos (John Jay College and CUNY Graduate Center, New York, New York, USA)

Journal of Public Mental Health

ISSN: 1746-5729

Article publication date: 19 March 2018

451

Abstract

Purpose

Stigma by association occurs when members affiliated with a marginalized group become discredited themselves. The purpose of this paper is to explore associative stigma among mental health (MH) clinicians working with individuals diagnosed with serious mental illness (SMI).

Design/methodology/approach

In total, 47 eligible service providers completed an online qualitative study, with open-ended questions about areas touching on associative stigma such as assumptions about the MH profession, personal experiences of work-related stigma, and ways of coping.

Findings

The data revealed that MH clinicians commonly endorse experiences of associative stigma. The following themes were derived: experiences of stigma in describing the profession to others, media portrayal of MH professionals, assumptions about the field, ascriptions of personal characteristics, job devaluation, means of coping with associative stigma, and impact of associative stigma on work on clients.

Originality/value

This is the first qualitative study to examine the phenomenon of associative stigma with MH clinicians. This study suggests that MH providers working with people with SMI do encounter associative stigma when discussing their profession with community members. Professionals discussed encountering the stereotype that the work that they do is dangerous, that it is something “unwanted” and that it does not require much skill but could be done by anyone. Associative stigma could be an important component in the understanding of factors related to professional burnout.

Keywords

Citation

Vayshenker, B.A., DeLuca, J., Bustle, T. and Yanos, P. (2018), "“As soon as people hear that word…”: associative stigma among clinicians working with people with serious mental illness", Journal of Public Mental Health, Vol. 17 No. 1, pp. 20-28. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPMH-12-2016-0055

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited

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