Are the Ranks Closed? Attitudinal Social Distance and Mental Illness

The authors review previous studies on social attitudes toward the mentally ill and present data from their field survey on the opinions and attitudes of a blue-collar population toward mental illness. Almost all the 937 respondents considered mental illness an illness requiring the care of a physician and one that can be cured with proper treatment. Responses to questions about social distance showed significantly greater acceptance than rejection of all those who were formerly mentally ill.