*** Everyone Welcome! No need to book in advance ***
Date: Thursday 19th May
Time: 16:00-17:00
Room: Town Hall Committee Room 2
Dr Richard Barry (Middlesex University)
"Psychiatric Stigma and Dehumanisation"
Abstract: The denial of humanity to outgroups is a well-established
phenomenon. It has been explored from a
variety of perspectives and with a wide range of targets, including national,
ethnic, and cultural outgroups, immigrants, the homeless and drug addicts, political
opponents, and the ‘mentally ill’. The
negative effects on those attributed lesser humanity include absolution of
ingroup responsibility for harsh treatment of outgroup members, lower guilt for
past misdeeds of the ingroup, reduced forgiveness , willingness to help, and empathy,
as well as increased discrimination and avoidance of outgroup members. It’s not a good thing. This talk will provide an overview of the
main approaches to conceptualising dehumanisation, addressing some key issues
in operationalisation and analysis that make interpretation of current findings
challenging. Recent studies examining
dehumanisation of people with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder will also be
presented. These explore the question of
whether there is a relationship between humanity denial, stigma, and the desire
for social distance from people with a psychiatric diagnosis.
