What is the Role of Intertextuality in Media Depictions of Mental Illness? Implications for Forensic Psychiatry

Nairn, Raymond; Coverdale, John; Claasen, Donna

doi:10.1375/pplt.13.2.243

Cited by 9 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…These undesirable traits create a polarised distinction between “Us”: healthy, normal individuals and “Them”: the mentally ill (Olstead, 2002). Rare positive representations have been criticised for portraying people with mental health problems in a paternalistic way, unable to decide for themselves and in need of others’ help (Foster, 2006; Nairn et al, 2006).…”

Section: Mental Illness Depression and The Mediamentioning

confidence: 99%

Between medicalisation and normalisation: Antithetical representations of depression in the Greek-Cypriot press in times of financial crisis

Orphanidou

Kadianaki

2018

Health (London)

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Media offer people ways of understanding mental health and illness, shaping their attitudes and behaviour towards it. Yet, the literature on media representations of depression is limited and fails to illuminate sufficiently the content of representations. In times of financial crisis, the prevalence of depression is increased and the particular meanings associated with depression are widely diffused. To unpack these meanings, we focused on the Greek-Cypriot press during the financial crisis of 2013. Two-hundred and three articles from seven widely circulating newspapers were thematically analysed. Two antithetical themes of representations of depression were identified: Biomedical Depression, which constructed depression as a biologically grounded illness treated through medical/pharmaceutical means, and Everyday Depression, which portrayed depression as something normal, encountered in anyone, attributed to psychosocial factors (e.g. the financial crisis), and treated through self-management. Biomedical Depression reflects a widespread medical and deterministic understanding of depression. Nevertheless, this understanding has not overridden, as the literature suggests, references to individual agency, which are present in the Everyday Depression and the more normalising understanding of depression it expresses. We argue, however, that both themes promote an individualistic understanding of depression, placing individuals in a tense position of being responsible for a condition perceived to be outside their control.

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Section: Mental Illness Depression and The Mediamentioning

confidence: 99%

Between medicalisation and normalisation: Antithetical representations of depression in the Greek-Cypriot press in times of financial crisis

Orphanidou

Kadianaki

2018

Health (London)

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“…Kitzinger and Reilly (1997) observed that news media portrayals of risk are not necessarily congruent with expert risk assessments or empirical data about risks (Kitzinger, 1999b). News media portrayals can lead to the adoption of views, and particularly misconceived views, of crime-related issues that are disproportional to the actuality of their occurrence (Blood & Holland, 2004;Nairn, Coverdale, & Claasen, 2006). Media outlets also provide a forum for the expression of public responses to particular issues (Collins, Abelson, Pyman, & Lavis, 2006).…”

Section: Informing Public Perceptions: Interface Between Sexual Offenmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sensationalising sex offenders and sexual recidivism: Impact of the Serious Sex Offender Monitoring Act 2005 on media reportage

Ducat

Thomas

Blood

2009

Australian Psychologist

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Differences in extent and nature of newspaper media reporting before and after the introduction of the Serious Sex Offender Monitoring Act 2005 in Victoria were investigated, critically exploring the interface between psychological, media and criminological disciplines. Forty-three news items before the Act and 90 after the Act were analysed using a thematic and discursive framework. A significant increase in the number of items was found after the Act but other discursive and thematic findings were mixed. Several indicators of sensationalism such as headline size, tone, and theme did not differ between time frames, while there was a significant increase in the incidence of case-based and high-profile case reporting after the introduction of the Act. Hence, although the discourse and frames within which serious sex offenders are reported has remained similar over time, the introduction of the Act has dramatically impacted on the frequency of reporting in such cases. The findings are congruent with the extant literature on the newsworthiness of child sexual offending, indicating a need for media outlets to be more responsible in their reporting, and for legislators to enact legislation based upon empirical evidence.

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“…All disagreements were discussed by the three authors in order to reach consensus. Two of the authors (JHC, RN) are experienced in such analyses and have utilized these skills in widely published work on media and mental illness (Camp et al, 2010; Nairn, 1999; Nairn, 2005; Nairn & Coverdale, 2005; Nairn & Coverdale 2006; Nairn et al, 2006; Wilson, Nairn, Coverdale, & Panapa, 1999a; Wilson, Nairn, Coverdale, & Panapa, 1999b; Wilson, Nairn, Coverdale, & Panapa, 2000). As described in reported analyses of newspaper articles (Allen & Nairn, 1997; Barnett, 2005, Nairn & Coverdale, 2005; Wetherell, 1998), these methods assume the constructed nature of media depictions enabling researchers to identify cultural mechanisms such as language in use, culture, social practices, and institutions (Nairn, et al, 2011) that support those constructions.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The “mad” MCD, whether the person so categorized is male or female, is grounded in the long history of people’s interpretations of forms of deviance named as insanity or madness. These interpretations draw on characters and situations made available through the telling of earlier stories (Fabrega, 1990; 1991; Fiske, 1987; Foucault, 2001; James, 1993; Lemke, 1985; Nairn, Coverdale, & Claasen, 2006). Those stories and interpretations constitute a repository that may be glossed as “intertextual knowledge” (Fiske, 1987) that can orient writers or readers in their crafting or understanding of a story.…”

Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

“Behind the Mug Shot Grin”

Coverdale

Nairn

2013

Journal of Communication Inquiry

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There are few studies of the manner in which media portray the mental state of mass killers. There are also no formally tested frameworks or models for understanding how such portrayals contribute to the stigma of mental illness. In this article we analyzed the initial depictions of a high-profile mass killer applying discourse analytic methods to representations of the Tucson shooter, Jared Loughner, in the New York Times. We identified fourteen items that focused on Loughner and his actions that were published over the 1st week after the shooting prior to any authoritative assessment of his mental state. This study sought to deconstruct this portrayal of the killer as "mad", and to show how the four cultural mechanisms of language in use, culture, social practices, and institutions contributed to that construction. Those cultural mechanisms underpinned links observed in the items between Loughner's behavior, his putative mental illness, and the mass murders. This seamless interplay between the cultural mechanisms as related intertextually enabled the differing representations of Loughner as mad, dangerous, and fearsome. We argue that such a portrayal is a significant contributor to stigmatizing understandings of mental illness and people's fear of mental disorders.

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What is the Role of Intertextuality in Media Depictions of Mental Illness? Implications for Forensic Psychiatry

Cited by 9 publications

References 29 publications

Between medicalisation and normalisation: Antithetical representations of depression in the Greek-Cypriot press in times of financial crisis

Between medicalisation and normalisation: Antithetical representations of depression in the Greek-Cypriot press in times of financial crisis

Sensationalising sex offenders and sexual recidivism: Impact of the Serious Sex Offender Monitoring Act 2005 on media reportage

“Behind the Mug Shot Grin”

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