Newspaper representations of mental illness and the impact of the reporting of 'events' on social policy: The 'framing' of Isabel Schwarz and Jonathan Zito

Concerns have been raised internationally about the role of the media in influencing public opinion and by implication, social policy on mental health issues. In particular, anxieties have been expressed that an 'excessive' focus by the news media on violence in association with mental illness may reinforce pre-existing stereotypes and by escalating public concerns lead to the adoption of policies which place a high priority on the safety of the public. Such assertions are often contained in the numerous studies that record a seemingly disproportionate number of stories featuring violence in association with mental health. What is, however, almost invariably lacking is a developed theory of agency that explains how or why such depictions of mental illness might exert an influence on social policy. This paper critically examines the potential significance of the way in which responsibility for events is constructed for social policy by means of a discourse analysis, inspired by the genealogical work of Michel Foucault. It uses the device of 'frames' originally developed by Goffman to explore the nature of newspaper coverage of two deaths to which causal responsibility for changes in the nature of English social policy in mental health has been attributed. Results presented suggest that attempts to assert a causal influence between media coverage and changes in the nature of social policy must engage with the question of agency

The construction of stereotypes within social psychology : From social cognition to ideology

This paper reviews the varying and contrasting ways in which stereotypes, as representations of groups, and stereotyping as an activity, have been constructed and understood within contemporary social psychology. These distinct theoretical approaches include the dominant social cognitive tradition, which views stereotypes as cognitive schemas that simplify reality, and self-categorization theory, which views stereotypes as psychologically valid representations which reflect the actualities of intergroup relations. We articulate how more social and collective accounts based on social representations theory, ideology and discursive psychology can enrich our understanding of stereotypes and stereotyping. Stereotypes are not the product of individual cognitive activity alone, but are also social and collective products which function ideologically by justifying and legitimizing existing social and power relations within a society. We also discuss recent contributions to the enduring enigma within social psychology regarding the relationship between stereotypes and social reality, and identify the inherent ideological problems which plague positivist attempts to explicate this relationship. Finally, we discuss the need for an integrative social psychological theory of stereotyping which links the cognitive and psychological analyses of stereotyping to more social, structural and discursive analyses.</jats:p

Atitude político-ideológica e inserção social: fatores psicossociais do preconceito Ideological-political attitude and social insertion: psychosociological factors of racial prejudice?

Neste estudo, objetivou-se verificar como se apresentam a atitude político-ideológica e a inserção social, no contexto universitário, frente ao preconceito sutil. Participaram 206 estudantes, 80% mulheres e idade média de 23 anos (DP=5,34), sendo heterogênea a divisão entre as áreas do conhecimento humano, saúde e educação. Foram utilizadas as escalas de inserção universitária, preconceito sutil e atitude favorável ao 1º e 3º mundos. Foi realizada ANOVA (Scheffé) entre as áreas do conhecimento e inserções, onde se verificou a promoção de inserções em diferentes atividades na universidade. Regressões (stepwise) constatam que as atitudes primeiro e terceiro mundistas são inversamente preditivas às inserções universitárias, assim como sua pertença às áreas, e que a inserção extracurricular prediz menor expressão de preconceito sutil. Infere-se que atitudes político-ideológicas atuam indiretamente no preconceito sutil, diferentemente da sua atuação mais direta frente à inserção social e ao antirracismo.<br>In this study, the aim is verify how political-ideological attitudes and the social insertion in college context are observed through subtle prejudice. Took part 206 college students, 80% woman and average age of 23 (SD=5,34), divided into knowledge areas: human, health and education. The tools used were university insertion and subtle prejudice scales and favorable attitude on the first and third world. ANOVA (Scheffé) were used and identified knowledge areas as promoting insertions in different activities at the university. Regressions (stepwise) verified that first and third world attitudes are conversely predict to university insertions thus as their areas insertions, and which extracurricular insertion predict lower expression of subtle prejudice. It suggests that political-ideological attitudes acting indirectly on subtle prejudice expression, unlike its influence towards social insertion and anti-racism