The good, the bad, and the severely mentally ill: Official and informal labels as organizational resources in community mental health services

Research on labeling mental illness has focused relatively little attention on practical organizational concerns in the process of labeling in community mental health services. This paper examines this issue through an ethnographic study of two multi-service community mental health services organizations for people labeled severely and persistently mentally ill in the Midwest United States. The findings show that the labeling process is structured by cultural and policy environments in which mental health services are able to provide resources otherwise difficult to obtain. Within organizations, official labels can be applied for reasons other than clinical practice; they channel resources to both organizations and clients. Informal organizational labels regarding client mental illness are not tethered to the bureaucratic apparatus granting access to and paying for services. Instead, they reflect workers' real assessments of clients, which can differ from official ones. These informal labels determine how organizations deal with clients when rules and routines are violated.USA Labeling Mental Illness Medical sociology Health policy Social welfare Morality Organizations

The closing skills gap: revisiting the digital disability divide

People with disabilities face unique challenges online, even once they are connected. While policy, advocacy, and the search for new markets have increased accessibility to the Internet, the question remains as to whether this shift has been accompanied by in a comparable gain in Internet skills. In this chapter, we compare national survey data from 2009 and 2020 about Americans' Internet skills to see whether people with disabilities have closed the skills gap

People with disabilities during Covid-19

Amid a crisis that has limited access to basic needs for everyone, relatively little attention has focused on the experiences of people with disabilities (PWD). In this piece, the authors compare the experiences of people with disabilities with those without during the coronavirus pandemic to highlight how this marginalized status is reflected in their concerns and fears

Unrealized Potential : Exploring the Digital Disability Divide

While the digital inequality literature has considered differences in the online experiences of many population segments, relatively little work has examined how people with disabilities (PWD) have incorporated digital media into their lives. Based on a national survey of American adults, this paper explores this question through considering both barriers to Internet use and the possibilities the Internet offers PWD. Findings indicate barriers for many PWD to accessing the Internet. Those with five of six types of disabilities measured are considerably less likely to be online than those who are not disabled. People who are deaf or hearing impaired to do not lag in Internet access once we account for demographics, Web use skills, and Internet experiences. However, the study also finds evidence that once online, PWD engage in a range of uses of the Internet as much as people without disability. Moreover, PWD take distinct interest in certain online activities, such as sharing their own content and reviewing products and services, pointing to ways they may go online to adapt and respond to the wider inaccessible society. These findings indicate great potential for the Internet for people with disabilities and suggest that moving more of them online holds the potential for considerable gains among this group

Old Dogs, New Clicks: Digital Inequality in Internet Skills and Uses among Older Adults

Research on digital inequality tends to collapse people above a certain age into one “older adults” category, seemingly assuming that this is one homogeneous group when it comes to internet uses. Drawing on national survey data of adults in the United States, this article examines the online skills and behaviour of this group. Findings reveal diversity among older adults in internet skills and uses. Those with higher education and higher income have higher-level Web-use skills. While those of higher socioeconomic status are also more likely to use the internet for diverse types of activities from which they may benefit, once Controlling for skills, these differences are less pronounced