The root of this study came from the controversy that the perception of members of community on mental illness is not an image of a people with mental illness but an image of studying the notion that was formed socially. To see the 'real' people with...
The root of this study came from the controversy that the perception of members of community on mental illness is not an image of a people with mental illness but an image of studying the notion that was formed socially. To see the 'real' people with mental illness not socially known people with mental illness, This study have looked at the researches that focused on people who had contacted with people with mental illness. After looking at the researches, it was found that there were two contrary result. One was the contact changed people's prejudices on people with mental illness affirmatively and the other was it changed people's prejudices on people with mental illness negatively. Therefore, the focus of this study is to examine how people's perception on people with mental illness change during process and the context of the contact by qualitative research method.
Because the current social system limites contact situation in community, the continous contact with people with mental illness usually happen with specialists, families, and volunteers. In order to exclude the changes that might come from other experiences with people with mental illness other than the contact, the objects of this study was chosen to be the volunteers. By analyzing the datas on 8 research participants and their depths interviews in comparative method, This study could see the effects of process and context of the contact with people with mental illness.
The result showed that the perception on mantal illness came from the perspective of the institution volunteers are cureently in. By making contact with the perspective of the institution, people formed their own stance on mantal illness and it lead to change in the attitude of perception on mantal illness and how to treat them. Afterward, it created idea of return of people with mental illness in community. During the contact, the main reason for changing the notion on mantal illness was drawn to be 'Seeing people with mental illness with the perspective of the institution'.
Before making contact with people with mental illness, the research participants were scared of the 'unexpected actions' of the people with mental illness. Also, participants saw people with mental illness as 'people who can't do anything' since they lived in the community that is bound to form negative image on people with mental illness since it treated 'mantal illness as a negative nuance', 'the media that report mantal illness in provocative manner' and 'the system that enhances social streotype'.
The research participants who could only perceive people with mental illness negatively changed their perception by interacting with people with mental illness through the contact. Through the direct contact, the participants had chance to see the 'real' mentally disalbed people but they returned to seeing people with mental illness with the perspective of the institutions, seeing them as 'human' or focusing on the 'disease'.
The process of changing perception through the contact includes first, 'making stance according to the perspective of the institution', second, changing the 'methods of understanding the actions' based on the stance, third, led from the methods 'attitude toward the action' changed. Based on mentioned processes, they formed 'the notion of return of people with mental illness to community.' The process showed contrary results based on the perspective of the institutions, whether to see people with mental illness as 'human' or focus on the 'disease'.
The research participants changed their perception on mantal illness within the context of 'switching the perspective within relaton of power' during all processes, starting from before the contact to the contact. Research participants were differentiating people with mental illness from community mainly affected by highly influencing instruments like media, language and the system in this social structure which grants limited contact with people with mental illness. Also, during the contact, they were understanding people with mental illness within the power structure of the perspective of staff of the volunteering institution and volunteers. The process of concept change of mantal illness upon the contact with mantal illness shows that the change occurs within the power structure and they were recognizing mantal illness in single institutional perspective within power structure. Therefore, research participants were unable to see the 'real' people with mental illness due to various power structures.
Based on the research results, this study came to two implications. First, from which perspective people with mental illness should be viewed when discussing about return of people with mental illness to community. Second, it should be community's job to overcome social perception of mantal illness not individual's when discussing about return of people with mental illness to community. However, this study was premised on one perspective within single institution and its contact between volunteers and people with mental illness. The limit of study is the contact in community in natural situation was not studied.