Symbolic Interaction A Theoretical Approach to Understanding Stigma

Symbolic Interaction: A Theoretical Approach to Understanding Stigma & Recovery Jim Roe

Overview �How Symbolic Interaction can be used as a contemporary method to identify ways in which Mental Health Practices inadvertently contribute towards the disabled self. �Background: The Medical Model �Changes in recent policy & practice �Stigma �Symbolic Interaction

The Medical Model �Diagnosable symptoms �Expert/specialist to diagnose �Biological framework as an explanation �Expert/specialist to repair �Implications - Maddux (2008) �Causes lie within the individual not environment �Understanding comes from the individual not interactions

However. . . �Maddux: Illness ideology �Emphasis on weakness and sickness �Dichotomy of normal and abnormal behaviours �‘Patient’ as a passive victim �No control – require expert attention & care �Neglect for the meaning of illness �Individual �Social group

Focus of NHS Policy Reducing & controlling symptoms Optimal levels of autonomy & citizenship (Recovery)

Stigma & Labelling �Significant impact on recovery �Diagnostic labelling �The abnormal individual �Perceptions of dangerousness �Social disruption �Relationship troubles �Self-stigmatisation �Perceived personal responsibility �Self worth, aspirations and capabilities

Symbolic Interactionism �Origins in Pragmatist thought (Mead) �Blumer (1969) • Individuals act towards things based on meaning • Meanings derived from social interaction • Meanings modified through social interaction �Little recent research �Implicit in early sociological work by Goffman, Szasz & Rosenhan

The Implications �Individuals’ actions, reactions and interactions central to analysis �First person accounts �Reflective process �Observations of the processes of social interactions

The Benefits �Focus on micro-processes �Service Users and Professional Staff �First person accounts �Meanings �Patterns of behaviour and communication �Reconstruction of subjective worlds

The Questions �What are the underlying meanings of service users’ needs, risks and potential? �How are therapeutic interactions governed by these meanings? �What are the effects of these interactions on the recovery process in terms of stigma and harm? �What are the sources of this underlying harm?

In Summary �Symbolic Interaction is a way to understand how the self is created and therefore understand how contemporary practices & conventions inadvertently contribute towards the disabled self.

Symbolic Interaction: A Theoretical Approach to Understanding Stigma & Recovery Jim Roe