Conceptions and management of mental illness in outport Newfoundland

Abstract

The theoretical background for this exploratory study is derived from the societal reaction school of deviance theory. It is an examination, through the use of both interview and participant observation data, of the conceptions and management of mental illness in the isolated "outport" settlements of coastal Newfoundland. The study discusses the effect, on both of these phenomena, of differential access to medical and other professional agents, and through this analysis, challenges the traditional interpretations of psychiatric hospital admission rates. -- The outport conception of mental illness is examined in the light of community culture and interactive structure, in an effort to illustrate that lay conceptions of mental illness entail judgements of the social, rather than psychiatric, nature of behavior. -- The process of coming to be defined as mentally ill by fellow community members is seen as the function of a number of social contingencies. The definitional process is outlined in some detail in an attempt to integrate the relevant contingent factors. Hypotheses are offered about the nature of the lay conceptions of mental illness and the validity of the research focus is briefly evaluated.