"Social stigma causes isolation and loneliness in people with mental illnesses, homeless people or people with intellectual disabilities". This is what is stated in the report carried out by the Grupo 5 Chair and the Complutense University of Madrid Against Stigma, in which almost 3,000 people participated.
This is an innovative study because for the first time in Spain it analyses social stigma towards homeless people, people with mental health problems and people with intellectual disabilities; it uses research involving people with each of these conditions from a qualitative point of view, in addition to a survey of the general population; and it measures stigma in a gender-differentiated way, to find out whether a woman or a man with mental illness, homelessness or intellectual disability suffers more or less stigma because of their gender.
The study, carried out by the Grupo 5 Chair and the Complutense University of Madrid Against Stigma of the Faculty of Psychology, has been directed by Manuel Muñoz López, Professor of Psychological Assessment and Diagnosis.
Amongst the main conclusions, we obtain the need for coordinated action between health and social services, and the importance of the media and civil society to contribute to overcoming stigma by conveying to society a real image of homeless people, people with mental health problems or with intellectual disabilities.
It is also observed that for the three conditions analysed (mental health, homelessness and intellectual disability) there is a differential stigma by profession, with State security forces, security personnel and judicial and health personnel leading the ranking of stigmatising attributions. On the other hand, non-university teachers, social service professionals and people who carry out voluntary work have higher scores in terms of approach and destigmatisation.
Mental health
Among the people surveyed, 21% recognise having or having had mental health problems at some time in their lives. A similar percentage, 1 in 4 people, say they live with a person with mental health problems.
With regard to the willingness to talk In the case of mental health problems, almost all (96.5%) are willing to share experiences; something that the study concludes may be a key projecting factor.
The majority of people consider that it is necessary to report the presence of mental health problems when a person has committed a crime (68.7%), which is a clearly stigmatising aspect. Moreover, it should be borne in mind that making a medical diagnosis public is a criminal offence.
One of the points that indicates the presence of a stigma towards people with mental health problems refers to the words used to refer to them and to the use of terms such as mad, crazy or sick, which are stigmatising and not very inclusive.
The study also analyses the social distance and the opinion regarding the distance of services for these people. With regard to social distance, one of the key indicators of stigma, 44.4% show a medium-low intention to get close to people with a mental health problem. Meanwhile, 65% of the people interviewed refuse to live with a person with a mental disorder, and 40% would not like their children to associate with people with mental health problems.
With regard to the distance of services and the question of whether they would like to have care and treatment centres in the neighbourhood where they live for this population, only 6.1% were opposed, while 67% indicated that they would like to have this type of resource in their neighbourhood.
Finally, with regard to the attitudes towards people with mental health problems, 42.32% of the people interviewed show authoritarian tendencies. Factors such as coercion to get the person into treatment (6.45/9), the belief that they will need help on a recurrent basis (6.44/9) or grief (5.88/9) also appear with medium/high scores.
One of the major differences found in the present study refers to the fact that people with first-person experience of mental health problems have lower stigma than the rest of the population on all measures. Similarly, taking into account the contact with people with mental health problems, those people who know someone with this condition tend to stigmatise much less, with significant differences close to 50% compared to people who do not have people known with mental health problems.
In relation to the genre In terms of the respondent, the overall results seem to point to men being significantly more authoritarian, while women are more benevolent and exhibit greater beliefs of pity, dangerousness and fear.
Thus, women with a mental health problem seem to be seen as more in need of help, as well as being more authoritarian towards them. Whereas, in the case of men with a mental health problem, they seem to be seen as more dangerous, thus generating more fear and guilt towards them.
Homelessness
According to the survey data, 1.3 % of the Spanish population (600,000 people) would have been homeless. The data support a double reality: the invisibility of a problem and, secondly, the idea that homelessness is not a watertight and stable group, but rather a condition that affects many people in a more permeable way over time. In addition, 3.71 PT3T have lived with a person who has lived in a homeless situation and 18.11 PT3T recognise that they know someone in this situation.
The willingness of respondents to talk about the homeless situation that someone else might be experiencing (91.7% are willing to talk about it) is a good sign. However, one of the points that indicate the presence of a greater stigma towards these people refers to words such as homeless (16.2%), vagrant (14.6%) or beggar, used to refer to the people concerned.
In the case of media50.7% of the sample considered that this situation should be reported when the person commits a crime, despite the fact that the public dissemination of such information may be considered as stigmatising behaviour.
With regard to the social distance y the distance of services only 11.5% are opposed, a figure that contrasts with the neighbourhood rejection movements every time a new homeless service is proposed to be located.
By conditions sociodemographicThe data show that younger people show a lower level of social distance from homelessness than older people and more stigmatising scores on dangerousness, fear and guilt, while the older age group shows more stigmatising scores on the dimensions of helping and coercion. Finally, the higher the level of education, the higher the intention to approach homeless people and the lower the negative attributions.
At gender issueThe data show that homeless men are more stigmatised, while women are less stigmatised and more inclusive.
One of the major differences found in the present study refers to the finding that people who have first-hand experience of homelessness have a much higher stigma than the rest of the population on all the measures used and with a very significant effect size above 80%.
Intellectual disability
Regarding intellectual disability, direct contact data indicate that 1 in 10 people say that they live with a person with intellectual disability, and the majority (64%) know a person with this condition.
The willingness of the interviewed persons to talk about the situation of intellectual disability that another person might be living (95,21 PT3T are willing to talk about it) is a good sign. However, one of the points that denote the presence of a stigma towards people with intellectual disabilities refers to the words used to refer to the persons concerned as deficient, retarded, handicapped or, to a lesser extent, subnormal or mongoloid.
In the case of media, It is particularly relevant that 65% of the sample expect that, when a crime is committed, the media will report on the condition of a person with intellectual disabilities, although the inclusion of this information in most cases violates data protection laws, does not provide relevant information and reinforces the responsibility of the media in the perpetuation of stereotypes, prejudices and discriminatory behaviour.
In terms of distance of services for people with intellectual disabilities, only 2.71 p.p.t.3t show their opposition. This figure contrasts with those offered for homeless people, which offer significantly lower percentages in terms of acceptance (around 60%) and higher percentages in terms of rejection (around 10%).
At in terms of genderIn the case of women, women are perceived to be more in need of help, and men are more stigmatised in attitudes of guilt, anger, avoidance and coercion.
Also striking, as in the case of homeless people, is one of the major differences found in this study: the finding that people who have first-hand experience of intellectual disability have higher stigmatising attributions than the rest of the population.
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