Mental Illness and Gun Violence: Disrupting the Narrative

Author: McGinty, Emma E.

Description: Mental illness receives prominent attention in the U.S. dialogue on gun violence, despite evidence showing that most people with mental illness are never violent and most gun violence is not caused by mental illness (“violence” refers here and throughout to interpersonal violence, not suicide). Messages linking mental illness with violence increase social stigma, which contributes to low treatment rates and other negative outcomes among people with mental illness. Nonetheless, mental illness continues to be a central topic in gun violence debates such as the one prompted by the February 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Why does the narrative of mental illness as a major cause of gun violence persist, and how can it be disrupted?

Subject headings: Gun Violence; Humans; Mental Disorders; Stereotyping; Substance-Related Disorders; Attitudes toward mental illness; Violence/aggression violence; Firearm; Mass shooting; Stigma

Publication year: 2018

Journal or book title: Psychiatric Services

Volume: 69

Issue: 8

Pages: 842-843

Find the full text: https://www.strategian.com/fulltext/McGinty2018.pdf

Find more like this one (cited by): https://scholar.google.com/scholar?cites=8825907364836786775&as_sdt=1000005&sciodt=0,16&hl=en

Serial number: 3638

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