회복된 정신질환 환자의 사회복귀에 대한 일반인의 태도

A COMMUNITY SURVEY ON ATTITUDE TOWARD EX-MENTAL PATIENTS

In this community survey of the working groups in Seoul, the author has tried to seek for the characteristics of attitude toward ex-mental patients as working members. The survey was conducted to 230 working men and women ranging from the managers of large companies to the unskilled labors residing in Seoul with Askenasy’s questionaire form consisted of 41 items. The results were compared with Askenasy’s results reported in England and the United States. Seoul subjects showed more negativistic attitude toward ex-mental patients at the point of their re-instatement or getting new job, compared with the findings in England and the United States. Educational status gave less influence on the attitude of the Seoul subjects toward ex-mental patients getting job, while the Western subjects of Askenasy revealed that the higher in educational level, the more optimistic view. The discussion is centerd on two aspects; one was the negativistic attitude per se and the other was poor educational influence on the attitude. According to the previous studies in Korea, protective milieu of the family for the ex-mental patients from occupational and social demands would be regarded as a positive factor in tertiary prevention of medta! disorders during their rehabilitation period. This protective attitude seemed to contribute to the negativistic attitude toward ex-mental patients’ getting job. Thus, double aspects in the tertiary prevention should be taken into consideration in Korea; a positive aspects of family protection and a negative aspect of discouraging patients* occupational rehabilitation. Poor educational influence on the attitude could be attributed to the general trend of curriculum in Korea in which understanding of human behavior and mental health had been scarcely emphasized. Consequently, education about human behavior and mental health to the public and to the students in advanced educational institutions was suggested for the improvement of community attitude toward ex-mental patients.