Understanding public opinion relating to the establishment of community mental health facilities

Implications of a discourse analytic approach

Bibliographic Data

ID12397271
AuthorsSue Cowan, S T Cowan (Abertay University, corresponding author)
Year1999
Volume9
Issue4
Pages289-307
Publication date1999-07-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Community & Applied Social Psychology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1052-9284 • E-ISSN: 1099-1298
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/(sici)1099-1298(199907/08)9:4<289::aid-casp513>3.0.co;2-r
OpenAlexW1986355273
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited13

This paper demonstrates a novel approach to investigating the problem of public opposition to community mental health facilities. With the move towards community care, organizations setting up mental health facilities have encountered public opposition. It has been argued that this is due, in part, to the attitudes held by the public towards mentally ill people. A knowledge and understanding of attitudes towards this client group therefore has the potential to be of practical use to policy makers and practitioners who have a responsibility to consult on, and implement, community care for mentally ill people. The survey approaches and hypothetical situations used in previous British studies of community attitudes towards mentally ill people have, however, failed to take account of the rhetorical richness and complexity of the attitudes likely to be expressed in real-life community care contexts. By contrast, the study reported in this paper used a discourse analytic approach to explore the views expressed about mentally ill people in a ‘hot situation’. Specifically, people's views were explored in the contexts of the arguments they used to challenge or advocate a supported accommodation project for mentally ill people in their community. This paper examines some of these arguments and discusses the theoretical implications for traditional approaches to attitude research. In conclusion, the potential practical utility of the findings is considered. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

Accommodation · Health care · Mental health · Mental illness · Mentally ill · Opposition (politics · Political science · Psychiatry · Public health · Public opinion · Public relations · Rhetorical question · Sociology · Healthcare Decision-Making and Restraints · Homelessness and Social Issues · Medicine · Mental Health and Patient Involvement · Nursing · Psychology · Law · Social Psychology

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