Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

Little research has been conducted on media representations of psychiatric de-institutionalization in low-income countries. We set out to examine whether the Jamaican media takes a positive or negative orientation to psychiatric de-institutionalization, and which arguments and rhetorical devices are employed to support the media's position. This was done by the collection, review, and analysis of all stories related to psychiatric de-institutionalization published over a 26-month period from 2003 to 2005 by Jamaica's principal broadsheet newspaper. All of the stories were positive in orientation. Articles alluded to the therapeutic and economic benefits of de-institutionalization. To allay public fears, articles gave prominence to the views of senior psychiatric experts, quoted supporting statistics and international trends, and translated relevant research findings into lay language. Our results are contrary to most studies in high-income countries indicating negative media portrayals of mental illness and the mentally ill.

Keywords

de-institutionalization Jamaica media mental illness newspaper

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Anderson, A. (1997). Media, culture and the environment. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.

Anderson, M. (2003). `One flew over the psychiatric unit': Mental illness and the media. Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing , 10, 297—306.

Bachrach, L.L. (1996). Deinstitutionalisation: Promises, problems and prospects. In H. C. Knudsen & G. Thornicroft (Eds.), Mental health service evaluation (pp. 3—18). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Beaubrun, M.H. , Bannister, P. , Lewis, L.F. , Mahy, G. , Royes, K.C. , Smith, P. , & Wizinger, Z. (1976). The history of psychiatry in the West Indies. In G. Howell (Ed.), History of world psychiatry (pp. 507—527). New York: Brunner/Mazel .

Birch, M. (2000). Promoting mental health in media: In search of an effective methodology. In M. C. Murray & C. A. Reed (Eds.), Promotion of mental health, vol. 7 (pp. 29—39). London: Ashgate .

Blue, I. , & Harpham, T. (1994). The World Bank development report 1993: Investing in health. British Journal of Psychiatry, 165, 9—12.

Corrigan, P.W. , Watson, A.C. , Gracia, G. , Slopen, N. , Rasinski, K. , & Hall, L.L. (2005). Newspaper stories as measures of structural stigma . Psychiatric Services, 56, 551—556.

Coverdale, J. , Nairn, R. , & Claasen, D. (2002). Depictions of mental illness in print media: A prospective national sample. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 36, 697—700.

Francis, C. , Pirkis, J. , Blood, R.W. , Dunt, D. , Burgess, P. , Morley, B. , et al. (2004). The portrayal of mental health and illness in Australian non-fiction media. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 38, 541—546.

10.

Hickling, F.W. (1993). Psychiatry in Jamaica: Growth and development . International Review of Psychiatry, 5, 193—203.

11.

Hickling, F.W. (1994). Community psychiatry and deinstitutionalisation in Jamaica. Hospital and Community Psychiatry, 45, 1122—1126.

12.

Howells, G. (1976). History of world psychiatry. New York: Brunner/Mazel.

13.

Lamb, H.R. (1982). Treating the long-term mentally ill. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

14.

Lamb, H.R. (1993). Lessons learned from deinstitutionalisation in the US. British Journal of Psychiatry, 162, 587—592.

15.

Lamb, H.R. , & Bachrach, L.L. (2001). Some perspectives on deinstitutionalisation . Psychiatric Services, 52, 1039—1045.

16.

Nairn, R.G. , & Coverdale, J.H. (2005). People never see us living well: An appraisal of the personal stories about mental illness in a prospective print media sample. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 39(4), 281—287.

17.

Rowe, R. , Tilbury, F. , Rapley, M. , & O'Ferrall, I. (2003). `About a year before the breakdown I was having symptoms': Sadness, pathology and the Australian newspaper media. Sociology of Health and Illness, 25, 680—696.

18.

Sobo, E. (1993). One blood: The Jamaican body. Albany, NY: SUNY Press.

19.

Stark, C. , Paterson. B. , & Devlin, B. (2004). Newspaper coverage of a violent assault by a mentally ill person. Journal of Psychiatric & Mental Health Nursing , 11, 635—643.

20.

Stout, P.A. , Villegas, J. , & Jennings, N.A. (2004). Images of mental illness in the media: Identifying gaps in the research. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 30, 543—561.

21.

Thornicroft, G. , & Bebbington, P. (1989). Deinstitutionalisation: From hospital closure to service development. British Journal of Psychiatry, 155, 739—753.

22.

UNESCO Institute of Statistics. (2006). Jamaica profile-statistics in brief. Available [Accessed 30 March 2006]: http://www.uis.unesco.org/profiles/EN/EDU/countryProfile_en.aspx?code=3880.

23.

Wahl, O.F. (1995). Media madness: Public images of mental illness . New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.

24.

Wahl, O.F. , Wood, A. , & Richards, R. (2002). Newspaper coverage of mental illness, is it changing? Psychiatric Rehabilitation Skills, 6, 9—31.

25.

Warner, R. (1995). Alternatives to the hospital for acute psychiatric treatment. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press.

26.

Whitley, R. , & Crawford, M. (2005). Qualitative research in psychiatry. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 50, 108—114.

Open Papers,Open Minds? Media Representations of Psychiatric De-institutionalization in Jamaica

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References