Abstract
The influence of cultural change on attitudes towards mental patients was examined by comparing two American (ns = 76, 104) and two Greek (ns = 103, 116) samples, one drawn from each country in 1969 and the second in 1979. In Greece a decrease in negative attitudes is observed while in the USA a reduction in positive attitudes is noted. These changes have narrowed the differences between the two countries. They appear to reflect recent socio-economic developments in each country: improved economic conditions and modernization in Greece and economic recession and conservativism in the USA. The lower endorsement of the familial interaction theory in probably due to the resurgence of rival theories in the USA and in Greece to a moderation in familialism. Mental health professionals appear to follow rather than shape social policy.
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