Haghighat, Rahman; (2001) Stigmatisation of people with schizophrenia. Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).

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Abstract

This thesis examines stigmatisation, in particular that of schizophrenia, the relationship between stigmatisation and language, the origins of stigmatisation and routes to de-stigmatisation. It includes a historical perspective on the work on stigmatisation and its theoretical developments as well as an exploration of the links between stigmatisation and the prognosis of schizophrenia. The linguistic study covers the relationship between language and social factors, language as discourse, language and identity, language and classifications, stigmatisation and psychiatric classifications, language in relation to the stigmatisation of schizophrenia, metalinguistics, and defence tactics against stigmatisation. The chapter on the origins of stigmatisation explores the constitutional, psychological, economic and evolutionary roots and presents a new unitary theory of stigmatisation. In the thesis, are presented the results of a study of perceived stigmatisation and predisposition to enact stigmatisation in 107 patients with schizophrenia and 151 of patients' relatives from South Camden and Islington. The factor analysis of the results derives three factors which indicate basic attitudes linked to the origins of stigmatisation. These factors support the idea that the underlying origin of stigmatisation is embedded within psychological, economic and genetic domains. Also, the highest unanimity in de-stigmatisation was noted in their response to questions with the highest 'self-interest value' which supports the unitary theory of stigmatisation. Another result of this study is the development of a new stigmatisation scale for future research. The study also explores patients' and relatives' discourse to discover their feelings, anxieties, needs, beliefs, attitudes about illness and cure, explanatory models, self-image, notions of agency, their use of terms as discourse for compensatory purposes, their deconstruction of the concept of schizophrenia and defence mechanisms against stigmatisation. Finally, the thesis examines routes to de-stigmatisation and various measures to be used in anti-stigmatisation campaigns. These include educational, psychological, political, legislative, linguistic, intellectual and cultural interventions.

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