Vahabzadeh Arshya, Wittenauer Justine, Carr Erika
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.
J Psychiatr Pract. 2011 Nov;17(6):439-46. doi: 10.1097/01.pra.0000407969.65098.35.
Newspaper media are a major source of information about mental illness in the United States. Previous research has shown that some printed material has been both negative and stigmatizing, which can have a detrimental impact on individuals with mental illnesses. Such perceptions represented in the media may cause those with mental illnesses to internalize a negative and stigmatizing stereotype and hinder the public's understanding of mental illness. In recent years, advocacy groups have increased their efforts to combat stigmatization of those with mental illnesses. This study focused specifically on the use of stigmatizing language concerning schizophrenia in U.S. newspapers. Because advocacy to decrease stigmatization of mental illness has increased in recent years, this study compared media depictions of schizophrenia in 2000 and 2010 to determine if there had been a reduction in reporting of dangerousness and perpetration of crime by people with schizophrenia or in stigmatizing language. All articles published in five high-circulation newspapers from diverse urban geographical regions between January 1 and June 1 in 2000 and 2010 that contained the words "schizophrenia" or "schizophrenic" were reviewed. Articles were categorized under the categories of education, incidental reference, medical and pharmaceutical news, metaphorical use, charity, obituary, medically inappropriate, and human interest. Human interest articles were further subcategorized into advocacy, crimes committed by people with schizophrenia, crimes committed against those suffering from schizophrenia, and issues related to poor mental health care. There was a statistically significant decrease in reporting of crime committed by people with schizophrenia in 2010 compared with 2000. However, no significant difference was found in metaphorical usage of the terms schizophrenia and schizophrenic between 2000 and 2010.
在美国，报纸媒体是有关精神疾病信息的主要来源。先前的研究表明，一些印刷材料既有负面性又带有污名化，这可能会对患有精神疾病的个体产生不利影响。媒体中呈现的此类观念可能会使患有精神疾病的人内化负面和污名化的刻板印象，并阻碍公众对精神疾病的理解。近年来，倡导团体加大了打击对患有精神疾病者污名化的力度。本研究特别关注美国报纸中关于精神分裂症的污名化语言的使用。由于近年来减少对精神疾病污名化的倡导有所增加，本研究比较了2000年和2010年媒体对精神分裂症的描述，以确定关于精神分裂症患者的危险性和犯罪行为的报道或污名化语言是否有所减少。对2000年和2010年1月1日至6月1日期间在五个不同城市地理区域发行量大的报纸上发表的所有包含“精神分裂症”或“精神分裂症患者”字样的文章进行了审查。文章被归类为教育、附带提及、医学和制药新闻、隐喻用法、慈善、讣告、医学上不恰当以及人文关怀等类别。人文关怀类文章进一步细分为倡导、精神分裂症患者实施的犯罪、针对精神分裂症患者的犯罪以及与精神卫生保健不佳相关的问题。与2000年相比，2010年关于精神分裂症患者犯罪的报道在统计学上有显著下降。然而，2000年至2010年期间，“精神分裂症”和“精神分裂症患者”这两个术语的隐喻用法没有显著差异。
