Reflections on Social Inequality

I believe I learned a whole bunch about the many factors contributing to social inequality as well as the numerous ways and means in which social inequality can be produced and reproduced within society. This course piqued my interest in the complexity of social inequality and the ways in which social inequality begins. For example, in my second video of the course on cumulative advantage (reposted below), I highlighted that, for some groups that lack resources necessary to achieve educational success, the inability to achieve is attributed to circumstances that are often beyond one’s control. Especially for children who are dependent on their parents, guardians, and caretakers, achievement in school is no doubt influenced by the circumstances of their upbringing.

My interest extends to the control we have in being able to curb social inequality. In the case with children, the influences of institutions such as the family, school, and mass media seem to extend past a child’s locus of control. Then perhaps changes to certain institutions would engender different results in the younger generations. That is my hope and my purpose through this reflection on the course as well as my own interests in fighting mental illness stigma.

Mass Media’s Depictions of Mental Illness

I was particularly interested by the overlapping and interconnectedness of different areas of social inequality, such as the role of race and how it influences hiring practices and employment as well rates of incarceration. However, the role of one area of social inequality, such as race, did not simply act linearly in affecting another area of society – rather, I was intrigued by how even the institution of incarceration affected one’s own racial self-identification.

Because of our readings on institutions and its role in a seemingly cyclical structure of society, I intend to explore the cyclical repercussions of mass media’s depictions of mental illness. I am fascinated how, despite many advances in the area of mental health and psychology, there still remains a pervasive stigma regarding mental illness and those who live with mental illnesses. I believe that mass media contributes greatly to the perceptions and depictions of mental illness among society, and these stereotypical perceptions of mental illness are then reproduced and highlighted to confirm society’s current view of mental illness.

In a similar way that mass media disproportionately depicts black people as criminals and thugs, mass media also portrays people with mental illness as violent and as people who should be shut out of society. Mass media contributes to the continuing stigma of people with mental illness and mental illness myths that exists in society today.

[Image file]. Retrieved from I Am Not Crazy Tumblr site: http://notcrazyorg.tumblr.com/post/68279979263

In fact, mass media’s influence on the perceptions of mental illness begins quite early. In a work entitled "Depictions of Mental Illness in Children's Media" by Otto F. Wahl in 2003 which studied the depictions of mental illness in children’s media, Wahl showed that the common media references to mental illnesses are often more negative than positive. Additionally, persons with psychiatric disorders had images that were unattractive, violent, and criminal (Wahl, 2003). References to mental illnesses within children’s media are typically used to ridicule, put down, and belittle (Wahl, 2003).

Schwartz, Carly (Producer). (2013, May 1). Misrepresentations of the Mentally Ill in Children's Media: The Irrefutable Cycle. [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqM90eQi5-M

In this video posted above, the video creator does a good job of showing examples of misrepresentations of mental illness in popular Hollywood movies and television programs. I think it does an excellent job of pulling together many powerful and provocative clips from movies that exaggerate mental illness depictions. Often, characters of movies and shows with a mental illness are portrayed to be violent and dangerous. Many of these films aimed at teenagers and adults impress and reaffirm upon its audience society's view of people with mental illness as being criminal and violent.

In the video blog on immigration (reposted above), I discussed how Mexican immigration in Alabama was a hot point of debate despite the fact that Alabama's Mexican immigrant population is a small percentage. I believe media has a role in setting certain agendas, and in the above case, in underscoring the Mexican immigrant population as a large problem.

Criminals or Victims?

This leads me to think about the effect that mass media has in over-representing people with mental illness as violent criminals contrary to the actual percentage of people with mental illness to commit violent crimes being much lower. 

[Image file]. Retrieved from United Way of Greater Los Angeles site: http://www.unitedwayla.org/2014/02/mythbusting-mental-illness/

I believe there are many myths regarding mental illness that need to be dispelled. Notice in the image above, people with mental illness are more likely to be victims of violent crime than ones committing violent crime. This is contrary to the slew of news reports and television programs that depict people with mental illness as perpetrators of violent crimes.

As the study on children's media suggest, these stereotypical preconceptions of mental illness and stigmatizing representations are received very early in one's life. I believe that greater understanding of mental illness and sensitivity to the effect of mass media's influence on mental illness stigma can alter the perceptions of mental illness and people of mental illness. 

I believe that making conscious, deliberate, and informed decisions to change the negative perceptions of mental illness and those with mental illness with accurate perceptions, we can begin to impact others into doing the same. These choices may start with simply choosing not to watch or buy into the television programs that exacerbate the negative portrayal of people with mental illness and may seem small, but the choice is ultimately ours. I hope with the greater understanding of the complex processes and cyclical interconnections of factors contributing to social inequality, we can exercise our agency to fight mental illness stigma. While mass media tells us that people with mental illness are criminals, reality tells us that people with mental illness are victims of mass media's vilification and misrepresentation.