Workplace prejudice and discrimination toward individuals with mental illnesses

Abstract

Prejudice and discrimination represent a major barrier to the recovery and community integration of individuals with serious mental illnesses. Yet, little is known about the diverse ways prejudicial practices are enacted at the workplace beyond blatant discrimination. This paper presents findings about the manifestations of prejudice and discrimination at the workplace. Data were gathered from a national sample of individuals with serious mental illnesses who reported perceiving negative attitudes at work as part of their participation in a larger study on sustained employment (n = 234) and from a subsequent study on workplace psychiatric prejudice and discrimination (n = 202). Qualitative analyses of data collected through two different surveys informed the development of a comprehensive taxonomy that identified a range of prejudicial and discriminatory practices that fell within two contextual domains: work performance and collegial interactions. The specific categories within each of these domains represented a continuum of more subtle to more blatant expressions of psychiatric prejudice and discrimination that influenced workers with mental illnesses through different impact pathways. Study findings informed the development of a broader conceptual framework for understanding and combating psychiatric prejudice and discrimination in employment settings and improving the workplace inclusion and employment outcomes of individuals with serious mental illnesses.

Employer Attitudes Towards the Work Inclusion of People With Disability

“…), our results highlight how psychological problems represent the condition most frequently associated with a negative view (Russinovaa et al . ). With respect to first hypothesis, we underscore that people with SD were not evaluated most positively overall and that indeed, no differences emerged for intellectual disability and SD.…”

“…Similarly, Russinovaa et al . () found that employers tend to use more negative words (e.g. dangerous, unpredictable) when they describe individuals with mental illnesses than candidates presenting physical disability and were more concerned about their work and social performance.…”

Maximizing work integration in job placement of individuals facing mental health problems: Supervisor experiences

“…Supervisors generally have major concerns about employing people with mental health problems [24][25][26], but prior experience seems to be an important factor in determining supervisors attitudes towards such employment [27]. Deepening their knowledge of mental health challenges has been found to be an effective strategy for winning supervisors cooperation [25,28].…”

Social Aspects of the Workplace Among Individuals With Bipolar Disorder

“…To assess stigma in the workplace, questions were taken from the Workplace Stigma Survey, which is a 38-item self-report measure with four sections: “stigma and your work,” “stigma and your work environment,” “stigma and your recovery process,” and “your personal background” (Russinova, Griffin, Bloch, Wewiorski, & Rosoklija, 2011). Stigma at work was measured based on one’s perceived experience with stigma, and this was assessed in two ways.…”