Bruce G. Link

Conceptualizing Stigma

Social science research on stigma has grown dramatically over the past two decades, particularly in social psychology, where researchers have elucidated the ways in which people...

A Modified Labeling Theory Approach to Mental Disorders: An Empirical Assessment

Critics of labeling theory vigorously dispute Scheff's (1966) provocative etiological hypothesis and downplay the importance of factors such as stigma and stereotyping. We propo...

Understanding Labeling Effects in the Area of Mental Disorders: An Assessment of the Effects of Expectations of Rejection

This paper hypothesizes that official labeling gives personal relevance to an individual's beliefs about how others respond to mental patients. According to this view, people de...

The Social Rejection of Former Mental Patients: Understanding Why Labels Matter

Recent research shows that the crucial factor determining the rejection of former mental patients is their behavior rather than their stigmantized status. The study reported her...

Mental Patient Status, Work, and Income: An Examination of the Effects of a Psychiatric Label

Stigma as a Fundamental Cause of Population Health Inequalities

Bodies of research pertaining to specific stigmatized statuses have typically developed in separate domains and have focused on single outcomes at 1 level of analysis, thereby o...

Stigma and its public health implications

Stigma as a Barrier to Recovery: The Consequences of Stigma for the Self-Esteem of People With Mental Illnesses

The stigma associated with mental illness harms the self-esteem of many people who have serious mental illnesses. An important consequence of reducing stigma would be to improve...

Labeling and Stigma

Reward System of Psychotherapy: Implications for Inequities in Service Delivery

Research has shown that patients are treated unequally by providers of mental health services. This study is designed to investigate why this is so. Providers who treat advantag...

“A Disease Like Any Other”? A Decade of Change in Public Reactions to Schizophrenia, Depression, and Alcohol Dependence

More of the public embraces a neurobiological understanding of mental illness. This view translates into support for services but not into a decrease in stigma. Reconfiguring st...