"Because I Am a Female": Stigma and Safety Perspectives from Racially/Ethnically Diverse Women with Serious Mental Illnesses.
Individuals with serious mental illnesses (SMIs) face safety risks related to their mental health conditions that are often compounded by experiences of trauma, victimization, residence in impoverished neighborhoods, and histories of homelessness. Stigma and safety challenges significantly impact co...
| Published in: | Community Mental Health Journal Vol. 61; no. 3; pp. 420 - 432 |
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
| Format: | Article |
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Springer Nature
Apr2025
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=183352764&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 183352764 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 00103853 CMH jtl: Community Mental Health Journal issn: 00103853 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Apr2025 vid: 61 iid: 3 pid: 237 pub: Springer Nature artinfo: ui: 183352764 10.1007/s10597-024-01346-8 ppf: 420 ppct: 12 formats: fmt: @attributes: type: P size: 789KB tig: atl: "Because I Am a Female": Stigma and Safety Perspectives from Racially/Ethnically Diverse Women with Serious Mental Illnesses. aug: au: Modani, Aanchal Gurdak, Kristen Al Neyadi, Layla Smith, Melissa E. Kelly, Erin Thorning, Helle Brekke, John S. Pahwa, Rohini affil: https://ror.org/0190ak572 Silver School of Social Work, New York University, New York, USA https://ror.org/05p8w6387 Phyllis & Harvey Sandler School of Social Work, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, USA https://ror.org/04rq5mt64 School of Social Work, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD, USA https://ror.org/00ysqcn41 Department of Family and Community Medicine, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, USA https://ror.org/00hj8s172 Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Division of Behavioral Health Services and Policy Research, ACT Institute, Center for Practice Innovation, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA https://ror.org/03taz7m60 Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA su: Patient safety Intimate partner violence Sex crimes Mental health Mental illness Sex distribution Interviewing Psychology of women Racism Domestic violence Health equity Interpersonal relations Social stigma Social isolation Descriptive statistics Thematic analysis Gender-based violence sug: subj: Patient safety Intimate partner violence Sex crimes Mental health Mental illness Sex distribution Interviewing Psychology of women Racism Domestic violence Health equity Interpersonal relations Social stigma Social isolation Offices of Mental Health Practitioners (except Physicians) Descriptive statistics Thematic analysis Gender-based violence keyword: Community integration Gender Interpersonal violence Interpretive phenomenological analysis Medical and Health Sciences Public Health and Health Services Studies in Human Society Sociology Other Studies In Human Society Stigma Community integration Gender Interpersonal violence Interpretive phenomenological analysis Medical and Health Sciences Public Health and Health Services Studies in Human Society Sociology Other Studies In Human Society Stigma ab: Individuals with serious mental illnesses (SMIs) face safety risks related to their mental health conditions that are often compounded by experiences of trauma, victimization, residence in impoverished neighborhoods, and histories of homelessness. Stigma and safety challenges significantly impact community integration for individuals with SMIs, particularly women, who often bear a disproportionate burden of vulnerability, gender-based stigma, violence, and other inequalities. This study investigates how women with SMIs engage in the meaning-making of their safety and stigma experiences that, in turn, influence their community integration. From a large multi-site study exploring community experiences of racially/ethnically diverse participants with SMIs, a subsample of 28 cis and trans-gender women, who reported experiencing gendered stigma and a lack of safety, were chosen for the current study. The interviews were analyzed using modified principles of Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) to understand how women with SMIs made meaning of their safety and stigma encounters in their families, communities, and neighborhoods. IPA analysis resulted in the emergence of themes within a broad category of safety that represented participants' meaning-making about their physical safety and stigma experiences. Specifically, we used the broad themes from an existing framework of safety called 'Navigating Safety' model as sensitizing concepts for our analysis. Physical and psychological aspects of safety for this study were experienced in tandem whereby the women made sense of how their experiences of a lack of physical safety in multiple contexts shaped their sense of self, internalized stigma, and their social relationships. Within the broad theme of physical safety, participants described unsafe neighborhoods, exposure to domestic and intimate partner violence, and vulnerability to sexual violence. Additionally, under psychological safety, we identified how gender-based norms, race and ethnicity, sources of stigma (internalized, familial, and societal), and social isolation contributed to their mental health and social relationships (particularly with family). These findings highlight how the compounding influence of the intersection of multiple stigmatized identities exerts safety challenges on the lives and community experiences of women with SMIs. Focusing on access and affordability of appropriate gender-responsive resources for women, including trauma-informed care, could reduce hospitalizations, mental health symptoms, and stigma so they can safely integrate into their communities. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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