Developing Cooperative Communities to Reduce Stigma about Mental Disorders

Abstract

This article explores the theoretical and practical considerations of developing cooperative communities to reduce the stigma of mental disorders and achieve meaningful structural and systemic change. A cooperative community is conceptualized as an alliance of people from differing backgrounds who work together to achieve a positive social change desired by all members of the community but not necessarily for the material benefit of all. In defining the social psychological processes involved in the development of a cooperative community—comprising (1) people with mental disorders, (2) members of the broader public, and (3) health professionals—we reconcile the evidence of disparate psychological theories of stigma and prejudice reduction, intergroup relations, identity formation and social change to show that techniques drawn from each of those theories are required to create positive change and effectively address the stigma of mental disorders. We then explore practical considerations for developing cooperative communities in the mental health sector and consider future directions for health and public policy in this area.

A model for predicting prejudice and stigma expression by understanding target perceptions: The effects of visibility, politicization, responsibility, and entitativity

“…Minority movements are heavily dependent on allies from privileged groups (Thomas, McGarty, & Mavor, 2010). Allies of highly politicized target groups can join social change efforts through shared ideologies of opinion-based identities (Curtin & McGarty, 2016) to act on the basis of salient opinions about how to change an unjust intergroup situation (Gee & McGarty, 2013). Allies of highly politicized target groups can join social change efforts through shared ideologies of opinion-based identities (Curtin & McGarty, 2016) to act on the basis of salient opinions about how to change an unjust intergroup situation (Gee & McGarty, 2013).…”

Aspirations for a cooperative community and support for mental health advocacy: a shared orientation through opinion‐based group membership

“…In the present paper, we offered an approach to addressing the stigma of mental disorders that explores the psychological constructs of a group based on a particular opinion (i.e., support for mental health advocacy), rather than other suggested alternatives, such as one based on a superordinate identity (for further work, see Gee & McGarty, ). In doing so, our findings add evidence from a new domain to previous research demonstrating that opinion‐based group membership predicts sociopolitical action (e.g., Bliuc et al., ; Cameron & Nickerson, ; Musgrove & McGarty, ; O'Brien & McGarty, ; Thomas & McGarty, ), but our findings also explore membership of a psychological group that crosses the boundaries imposed by existing social categories.…”

What Drives Systemic Mental Health Advocates? Goals, Strategies, and Values of Australian Consumer and Carer Advocacy Organizations

“…This article reports how advocates define their vision and drive. We report elsewhere findings on the advocates' perceived helpful relationships in mental health reform (Gee & McGarty, 2013b).…”

“…Holding aspirations for such a cooperative community is a predictor of commitment to take action to make such a community real (Gee & McGarty, 2013a), leading Gee and McGarty (2013b) to propose that movement toward a cooperative community provides a basis for innovative bottom-up solution generation through respectful engagement (for an international application, see Lala et al, 2014).…”

“…if you have some relationships within that framework and understanding and respect then that carries some influence into a national picture. [P1O2] A deeper exploration of the advocates' views on the type of collaboration and partnerships needed in advancing mental health reform is reported in Gee and McGarty (2013b …”