TY - JOUR
T1 - Communicating about mental illness and violence
T2 - Balancing stigma and increased support for services
AU - McGinty, Emma E.
AU - Goldman, Howard H.
AU - Pescosolido, Bernice A.
AU - Barry, Colleen L.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 by Duke University Press.
PY - 2018/4/1
Y1 - 2018/4/1
N2 - In the ongoing national policy debate about how to best address serious mental illness (SMI), a major controversy among mental health advocates is whether drawing public attention to an apparent link betweenSMI and violence, shown to elevate stigma, is the optimal strategy for increasing public support for investing inmental health services or whether nonstigmatizing messages can be equally effective.We conducted a randomized experiment to examine this question. Participants in a nationally representative online panel (N= 1,326) were randomized to a control arm or to read one of three brief narratives about SMI emphasizing violence, systemic barriers to treatment, or successful treatment and recovery. Narratives, or stories about individuals, are a common communication strategy used by policy makers, advocates, and the news media. Study results showed that narratives emphasizing violence or barriers to treatment were equally effective in increasing the public's willingness to pay additional taxes to improve the mental health system (55 percent and 52 percent, vs. 42 percent in the control arm). Only the narrative emphasizing the link between SMI and violence increased stigma. For mental health advocates dedicated to improving the public mental health system, these findings offer an alternative to stigmatizingmessages linking mental illness and violence.
AB - In the ongoing national policy debate about how to best address serious mental illness (SMI), a major controversy among mental health advocates is whether drawing public attention to an apparent link betweenSMI and violence, shown to elevate stigma, is the optimal strategy for increasing public support for investing inmental health services or whether nonstigmatizing messages can be equally effective.We conducted a randomized experiment to examine this question. Participants in a nationally representative online panel (N= 1,326) were randomized to a control arm or to read one of three brief narratives about SMI emphasizing violence, systemic barriers to treatment, or successful treatment and recovery. Narratives, or stories about individuals, are a common communication strategy used by policy makers, advocates, and the news media. Study results showed that narratives emphasizing violence or barriers to treatment were equally effective in increasing the public's willingness to pay additional taxes to improve the mental health system (55 percent and 52 percent, vs. 42 percent in the control arm). Only the narrative emphasizing the link between SMI and violence increased stigma. For mental health advocates dedicated to improving the public mental health system, these findings offer an alternative to stigmatizingmessages linking mental illness and violence.
KW - Advocacy
KW - Communication
KW - Mental illness
KW - Policy
KW - Stigma
KW - Violence
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85044173758&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85044173758&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1215/03616878-4303507
DO - 10.1215/03616878-4303507
M3 - Article
C2 - 29630706
AN - SCOPUS:85044173758
SN - 0361-6878
VL - 43
SP - 185
EP - 228
JO - Journal of health politics, policy and law
JF - Journal of health politics, policy and law
IS - 2
ER -