Stigma remains an undesirable hallmark of living with a diagnosis of mental disorder. Based on prejudice and misinformation, public stigma is defined as a negative attitude that disrupts mentally ill individuals from accessing to valuable life opportunities such as employment (Corrigan, 2016). Work is a major determinant of social inclusion (Evans & Repper, 2000), as it provides personal well-being, economic self-sufficiency and growing evidences report employment as central to recovery from mental disorder(Center, 2011). Employment is also a fundamental source of role identity, and it offers people with mental disorder opportunities for social contact and interaction (Baldwin & Marcus, 2011). As reported by Kupra(2010), success in employment is crucial for mentally ill individuals because it has the potential to positively influence their broader participation into community, given the enhanced financial income,autonomy, and social roles that work provides. Unfortunately, work integration/reintegration for people with severe mental disorders is difficult (Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety,2009). Their participation in the labor market is fragile and restricted; they have fewer opportunities to work and their employment rates are exceptionally low compared to the general population or persons with physical disorders (Cook, 2006; Baldwin & Marcus, 2011).
There is emerging evidence that social enterprises help disadvantage people, such as individuals withsevere mental disorders, with the work integration process (Corbière & Lecomte, 2009; Roy et al, 2014).Yet, no studies have been conducted to better understand its effectiveness on promoting also socialinclusion in this population. To fill in this gap, the purpose of this study is to enhance understanding of the efficacy of the social enterprise model in decreasing stigma and promoting social integration among people with mental illness throughout the working experience.
Using a longitudinal design study, 310 individuals with severe mental disorders employed in Italian social enterprises (Type B social co-operatives) filled out a battery of questionnaires on individual (i.e., severity of symptoms; occupational self-efficacy; motivation to work) and environmental (i.e., workplace social support; organizational constraints) variables. Individuals who were still eligible at the 12-months followup phase of the study (N=131) completed a battery of questionnaires on work and social skills, and perceived stigma. We used path analysis to test a model delineating how working in social enterprises improves vocational outcomes (i.e., work productivity) and social skills in mentally ill people.
Results show that, by providing a meaningful work experience - which help mentally ill individuals increase their work-related and social skills - working in social enterprises lead to a reduction of perceived stigma and discrimination. Social enterprise thus provide a working context in which mentally ill people experience success and sense of work-related and social competence, which in turn helps them reduce perceived stigma and discrimination, that is a crucial step toward social inclusion.
Main references:
Baldwin ML, Marcus SC (2011). Stigma, discrimination, and employment outcomes among persons with mentalhealth disabilities. IZ Schultz & ES Rogers (Eds.), Work Accommodation and Retention in Mental Health. Springer,New York.
Center C (2011). Law and Job Accommodation in Mental Health Disability. In IZ Schultz & ES Rogers (Eds.), WorkAccommodation and Retention in Mental Health. Springer, New York.
Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (2009). Report on Mental Health. Retrieved onhttp://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?language=EN&reference=A6-0034/2009.Corbière M, Lecomte T (2009). Vocational services offered to people with severe mental illness. Journal of mentalHealth, 18(1):38-50.
Corrigan PW (2016). Lessons learned from unintended consequences about erasing the stigma of mental illness.World Psychiatry, 15:67-73.
Evans J, Repper J (2000). Employment, social inclusion and mental health. Journal of Psychiatric and MentalHealth Nursing, 7(1):15-24.
Krupa T (2010). Employment and serious mental illness. In Schultz I, Rogers ES (Eds.) Hanbook of JobAccomodations in Mental Health. New York: Springer.
Roy MJ, Donaldson C, Baker R, Kerr S (2014). The potential of social enterprise to enhance health and well-being:A model and systematic review. Social Science & Medicine, 123:182-193.
3. Governance, employment and human resource management
