En studie om faktorer som påverkar psykisk hälsa hos socialtjänstens klienter

Sammanfattning: The purpose of this study was to investigate the self- rated mental health of social services clients and see what affects it. A comparison was made against the other respondents regarding mental health. The study investigated the link between mental health and some different variables, such as gender, country of origin and whether they have emplyment or not. In addition, it was also examined how clients experienced the meeting with the social services and whether there was connection between their mental health and contact with social services. The material that formed the basis for the study was PART-studien (Mental health-Employment-Relations) and was collected by three researchers; Forsell and Lavebratt from Karolinska Institutet (KI) and Lundberg of Uppsala University, and concerned individuals' living conditions and mental health. To analyze the use Goffman's theory (2011) of psychological and social stigma and Ahmed Anis theory analysis on stigma and its three levels of stigma; social stigma, self-stigma and professionals stigma against clients. Previous research in this field has also helped in the interpretation of the results, as previous research reinforced the image of the individual's self- rated mental health varies between different groups in society, and that mental illness is linked to stigma. The result shows that self- rated mental health was adversely affected if they were a client of social services, if they were a woman, if they were born abroad, if they dint´t had employment and if they had a negative experience of the encounter with the social services. It also revealed that those who were in contact with social service felt worst in general, regardless of the other variables influence such as gender, birth country or employment.