Lecture 5 social class and MHl

Mental Health and Social Policy : Mental Health and Social Policy Lecture 5 Social Class and Mental Health


Social Class & Mental health : Social Class & Mental health The ‘problem’ of class How do we define it? “We don’t have social class in Ireland”


The ‘problem’ of class in mental illness : The ‘problem’ of class in mental illness Difficult to specify clearly Occupational scales confuse class and status Women’s social class The ‘demise’ of class Changes in the organisation of work Social reform and citizenship Social mobility and social drift Fragmentation and the underclass Poor record keeping


Social class and mental illness : Social class and mental illness Children from the lowest social classes are more likely to have a mental disorder than those in the top social brackets. People from the poorest areas are nearly three times as likely to be admitted to hospital for depression as those who are not, and are three times more likely to commit suicide. Poorer people are also six times more likely to be admitted to hospital with schizophrenia, and ten times more likely to be admitted for alcohol-related problems  The highest rates of mental disorders among children occur among those from families where no parent has ever worked Poverty also has a major influence on mental health. 


Social class and mental illness : Social class and mental illness Downward social mobility affects mental health status of men but not women Men seem to suffer more from lack of socio-economic success Women more likely to suffer the effects of childhood disadvantage


Definitions of Class in Ireland : Definitions of Class in Ireland 1 Professional workers 2 Managerial and technical 3 Non-manual 4 Skilled manual 5 Semi-skilled 6 Unskilled 7 All others gainfully occupied and unknown CSO Census 2002


All admissions by SEG : All admissions by SEG


Slide8 : The ‘unskilled’ group have the highest rate of admission, with one exception in 1971. Rates for the unskilled increased substantially during the 1980s rates in excess of 2,000 per 100,000 population, reaching a peak in 1986. In 1989, the rate of admission for the unskilled group was eleven times that of the lowest rated group. In 2000, 2001 and 2002 own-account workers have had the lowest rate of admission, at 42.3, 118.6 and 111.2 per Social Class and mental hospital admissions in Ireland


Slide9 : Skilled workers have had the second lowest rates of admission from 1990 to 1999 (with one exception in 1997), 1999. Rates of admission for most of the socio-economic groups have decreased from the first year of recording in 1971 to the present. Social Class and mental hospital admissions in Ireland


1st admissions by SEG : 1st admissions by SEG


Slide11 : Data on socio-economic group were not available for first admissions prior to 1971. The unskilled group had the highest rate of first admissions compared socio-economic groups in all years with the exception of 1971 and 1972 In 1983 and in 1989 the rate of admission for the unskilled group 6 times that of the employers and managers group. However, this differential has been decreasing since. The rate of admission for the unskilled group reached a peak in 1984, with at 585.6 per 100,000 population.