TY - JOUR
T1 - Attitudes towards mentally ill people and willingness to employ them in Arab society
AU - Haj-Yahia, Muhammad M.
PY - 1999/6
Y1 - 1999/6
N2 - Despite the considerable advancement of empirical knowledge in the area of mental health and mental illness, there is a serious lack of research on the topic from the perspective of Arab societies. This study examines whether traditional Arab societies such as Arab-Islamic society tend to reject mentally ill people, where willingness to employ a mentally ill person was chosen as a specific manifestation of such rejection. The research sample consisted of 262 potential employers in East Jerusalem, all of whom were Muslim men. On the whole, the findings support the research hypotheses, that as traditionalism increases there is a concomitant rise in the tendency to view mental illness as the result of an inadequate relationship with God, as a divine punishment and as an expression of divine will (fatalism). It was also found that these three tendencies exacerbate negative attitudes towards and rejection of the mentally ill, which in turn reduces the extent to which potential employers are willing to hire mentally ill people. However, the results reveal that rejection of the mentally ill is an inherent aspect of attitudes towards them, and not necessarily connected with traditionalism. The article concludes with a discussion of the implications of these findings for the reintegration of the mentally ill into Arab society.
AB - Despite the considerable advancement of empirical knowledge in the area of mental health and mental illness, there is a serious lack of research on the topic from the perspective of Arab societies. This study examines whether traditional Arab societies such as Arab-Islamic society tend to reject mentally ill people, where willingness to employ a mentally ill person was chosen as a specific manifestation of such rejection. The research sample consisted of 262 potential employers in East Jerusalem, all of whom were Muslim men. On the whole, the findings support the research hypotheses, that as traditionalism increases there is a concomitant rise in the tendency to view mental illness as the result of an inadequate relationship with God, as a divine punishment and as an expression of divine will (fatalism). It was also found that these three tendencies exacerbate negative attitudes towards and rejection of the mentally ill, which in turn reduces the extent to which potential employers are willing to hire mentally ill people. However, the results reveal that rejection of the mentally ill is an inherent aspect of attitudes towards them, and not necessarily connected with traditionalism. The article concludes with a discussion of the implications of these findings for the reintegration of the mentally ill into Arab society.
KW - Arab society
KW - Cultural sensitivity
KW - Mental health
KW - Mentally ill people
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0033246004&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/0268580999014002004
DO - 10.1177/0268580999014002004
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AN - SCOPUS:0033246004
SN - 0268-5809
VL - 14
SP - 173
EP - 193
JO - International Sociology
JF - International Sociology
IS - 2
ER -